gustare — Italian conjugation
to taste
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 | gusto | I taste |
| tu | gusti | you taste |
| lui/lei | gusta | he/she/it tastes |
| noi | gustiamo | we taste |
| voi | gustate | you (pl.) taste |
| loro | gustano | they taste |
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 | gustai | I tasted |
| tu | gustasti | you tasted |
| lui/lei | gustò | he/she/it tasted |
| noi | gustammo | we tasted |
| voi | gustaste | you (pl.) tasted |
| loro | gustarono | they tasted |
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 | gustavo |
| tu | gustavi |
| lui/lei | gustava |
| noi | gustavamo |
| voi | gustavate |
| loro | gustavano |
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 | gusterei | I would taste |
| tu | gusteresti | you would taste |
| lui/lei | gusterebbe | he/she/it would taste |
| noi | gusteremmo | we would taste |
| voi | gustereste | you (pl.) would taste |
| loro | gusterebbero | they would taste |
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 | gusterò | I will taste |
| tu | gusterai | you will taste |
| lui/lei | gusterà | he/she/it will taste |
| noi | gusteremo | we will taste |
| voi | gusterete | you (pl.) will taste |
| loro | gusteranno | they will taste |
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 gustato | I have tasted |
| tu | hai gustato | you have tasted |
| lui/lei | ha gustato | he/she/it has tasted |
| noi | abbiamo gustato | we have tasted |
| voi | avete gustato | you (pl.) have tasted |
| loro | hanno gustato | they have tasted |
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 gustato | I had tasted |
| tu | avevi gustato | you had tasted |
| lui/lei | aveva gustato | he/she/it had tasted |
| noi | avevamo gustato | we had tasted |
| voi | avevate gustato | you (pl.) had tasted |
| loro | avevano gustato | they had tasted |
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 gustato |
| tu | avresti gustato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe gustato |
| noi | avremmo gustato |
| voi | avreste gustato |
| loro | avrebbero gustato |
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 gustato | I will have tasted |
| tu | avrai gustato | you will have tasted |
| lui/lei | avrà gustato | he/she/it will have tasted |
| noi | avremo gustato | we will have tasted |
| voi | avrete gustato | you (pl.) will have tasted |
| loro | avranno gustato | they will have tasted |
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 | gusti |
| tu | gusti |
| lui/lei | gusti |
| noi | gustiamo |
| voi | gustiate |
| loro | gustino |
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 | gustassi |
| tu | gustassi |
| lui/lei | gustasse |
| noi | gustassimo |
| voi | gustaste |
| loro | gustassero |
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 | gusta |
| lui/lei | gusti |
| noi | gustiamo |
| voi | gustate |
| loro | gustino |
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 gustare |
| lui/lei | non gusti |
| noi | non gustiamo |
| voi | non gustate |
| loro | non gustino |