guardare — Italian conjugation
to watch
Indicative
Present (Presente) Regular
The presente covers habits, ongoing situations, and plans about to start — much like English “I study” and “I am studying”. One present tense does both in Italian.
Lavora da casa tre giorni a settimana.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | guardo | I watch |
| tu | guardi | you watch |
| lui/lei | guarda | he/she/it watches |
| noi | guardiamo | we watch |
| voi | guardate | you (pl.) watch |
| loro | guardano | they watch |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Regular
The passato remoto tells a completed, narrative past, especially in the south and in literature. The passato prossimo is the normal spoken past in the north, so you choose register and region, not a difference in time alone.
Quella sera arrivò tardi, senza alibi.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | guardai | I watched |
| tu | guardasti | you watched |
| lui/lei | guardò | he/she/it watched |
| noi | guardammo | we watched |
| voi | guardaste | you (pl.) watched |
| loro | guardarono | they watched |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Regular
The imperfetto is for incomplete past actions, context, and repeated or habitual situations without a clear end. The passato prossimo, not the remoto, is its usual “event” partner in speech.
Da bambina passavo le estati al mare.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | guardavo |
| tu | guardavi |
| lui/lei | guardava |
| noi | guardavamo |
| voi | guardavate |
| loro | guardavano |
Conditional (Condizionale) Regular
The condizionale is for polite “would you…”, first-condition hypotheticals, and reported future from a past point of view. The classic if-chain is se + imperfetto → condizionale.
Potresti alzare un poco la voce?
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | guarderei | I would watch |
| tu | guarderesti | you would watch |
| lui/lei | guarderebbe | he/she/it would watch |
| noi | guarderemmo | we would watch |
| voi | guardereste | you (pl.) would watch |
| loro | guarderebbero | they would watch |
Future (Futuro semplice) Regular
The futuro semplice is for predictions and far decisions. In speech you often hear the present (with a time adverb) or a paraphrase, and a famous trick is the futuro di probabilità for a present guess: saranno le tre.
Domani partiremo all'alba.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | guarderò | I will watch |
| tu | guarderai | you will watch |
| lui/lei | guarderà | he/she/it will watch |
| noi | guarderemo | we will watch |
| voi | guarderete | you (pl.) will watch |
| loro | guarderanno | they will watch |
Present perfect (Passato prossimo) Regular
The passato prossimo is the workhorse preterit-like past in the north and in everyday Italian: avere/essere + participle, essere for reflexives, motion, and other change-of-state patterns.
Siamo andati a piedi, poi abbiamo preso l'autobus.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ho guardato | I have watched |
| tu | hai guardato | you have watched |
| lui/lei | ha guardato | he/she/it has watched |
| noi | abbiamo guardato | we have watched |
| voi | avete guardato | you (pl.) have watched |
| loro | hanno guardato | they have watched |
Pluperfect (Trapassato prossimo) Regular
The trapassato prossimo is “further in the past than another past” — the Italian pluperfect. It pairs with a main past clause to mark sequence.
Avevamo già mangiato quando suonò il telefono.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avevo guardato | I had watched |
| tu | avevi guardato | you had watched |
| lui/lei | aveva guardato | he/she/it had watched |
| noi | avevamo guardato | we had watched |
| voi | avevate guardato | you (pl.) had watched |
| loro | avevano guardato | they had watched |
Conditional perfect (Condizionale passato) Regular
The condizionale passato is for unreal or missed past results and often appears with se + trapassato prossimo in the protasis.
Avrei accettato, se mi avessero avvisato in tempo.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | avrei guardato |
| tu | avresti guardato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe guardato |
| noi | avremmo guardato |
| voi | avreste guardato |
| loro | avrebbero guardato |
Future perfect (Futuro anteriore) Regular
The futuro anteriore says something will already be over before a still-later future, or, like the French, can express a logical guess about a past result.
Entro le cinque, avrà già lasciato l'ufficio.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrò guardato | I will have watched |
| tu | avrai guardato | you will have watched |
| lui/lei | avrà guardato | he/she/it will have watched |
| noi | avremo guardato | we will have watched |
| voi | avrete guardato | you (pl.) will have watched |
| loro | avranno guardato | they will have watched |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Regular
The congiuntivo presente is required after many verbs and fixed phrases of will, fear, purpose, and doubt. Impersonal and semi-impersonal triggers (è importante che) also force the subjunctive mood.
Penso che sia la scelta giusta.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | guardi |
| tu | guardi |
| lui/lei | guardi |
| noi | guardiamo |
| voi | guardiate |
| loro | guardino |
Imperfect subjunctive (Congiuntivo imperfetto) Regular
The congiuntivo imperfetto is the past of the congiuntivo system after a past matrix clause and in se + congi. imperf. → condizionale with unreal conditions.
Se avessi più tempo, viaggerei ogni mese.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | guardassi |
| tu | guardassi |
| lui/lei | guardasse |
| noi | guardassimo |
| voi | guardaste |
| loro | guardassero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Regular
The affirmative imperativo reuses the tu form as 3sg for -are verbs, while other conjugations use the normal tu present. It is the direct command register.
Raccontami com'è andata l'esame.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | guarda |
| lui/lei | guardi |
| noi | guardiamo |
| voi | guardate |
| loro | guardino |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular
Negative commands use non + full infinitive in modern Italian, which is a distinctive rule compared to other Romance languages. Polite or indirect “please don’t” can still soften the tone in context.
Non aprire quella finestra, per favore.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non guardare |
| lui/lei | non guardi |
| noi | non guardiamo |
| voi | non guardate |
| loro | non guardino |