guidare — Italian conjugation
to drive
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 | guido | I drive |
| tu | guidi | you drive |
| lui/lei | guida | he/she/it drives |
| noi | guidiamo | we drive |
| voi | guidate | you (pl.) drive |
| loro | guidano | they drive |
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 | guidai | I drove |
| tu | guidasti | you drove |
| lui/lei | guidò | he/she/it drove |
| noi | guidammo | we drove |
| voi | guidaste | you (pl.) drove |
| loro | guidarono | they drove |
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 | guidavo |
| tu | guidavi |
| lui/lei | guidava |
| noi | guidavamo |
| voi | guidavate |
| loro | guidavano |
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 | guiderei | I would drive |
| tu | guideresti | you would drive |
| lui/lei | guiderebbe | he/she/it would drive |
| noi | guideremmo | we would drive |
| voi | guidereste | you (pl.) would drive |
| loro | guiderebbero | they would drive |
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 | guiderò | I will drive |
| tu | guiderai | you will drive |
| lui/lei | guiderà | he/she/it will drive |
| noi | guideremo | we will drive |
| voi | guiderete | you (pl.) will drive |
| loro | guideranno | they will drive |
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 guidato | I have driven |
| tu | hai guidato | you have driven |
| lui/lei | ha guidato | he/she/it has driven |
| noi | abbiamo guidato | we have driven |
| voi | avete guidato | you (pl.) have driven |
| loro | hanno guidato | they have driven |
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 guidato | I had driven |
| tu | avevi guidato | you had driven |
| lui/lei | aveva guidato | he/she/it had driven |
| noi | avevamo guidato | we had driven |
| voi | avevate guidato | you (pl.) had driven |
| loro | avevano guidato | they had driven |
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 guidato |
| tu | avresti guidato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe guidato |
| noi | avremmo guidato |
| voi | avreste guidato |
| loro | avrebbero guidato |
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 guidato | I will have driven |
| tu | avrai guidato | you will have driven |
| lui/lei | avrà guidato | he/she/it will have driven |
| noi | avremo guidato | we will have driven |
| voi | avrete guidato | you (pl.) will have driven |
| loro | avranno guidato | they will have driven |
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 | guidi |
| tu | guidi |
| lui/lei | guidi |
| noi | guidiamo |
| voi | guidiate |
| loro | guidino |
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 | guidassi |
| tu | guidassi |
| lui/lei | guidasse |
| noi | guidassimo |
| voi | guidaste |
| loro | guidassero |
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 | guida |
| lui/lei | guidi |
| noi | guidiamo |
| voi | guidate |
| loro | guidino |
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 guidare |
| lui/lei | non guidi |
| noi | non guidiamo |
| voi | non guidate |
| loro | non guidino |