imporre — Italian conjugation
to impose
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 | impongo | I impose |
| tu | imponi | you impose |
| lui/lei | impone | he/she/it imposes |
| noi | imponiamo | we impose |
| voi | imponete | you (pl.) impose |
| loro | impongono | they impose |
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 | imposi | I imposed |
| tu | imponesti | you imposed |
| lui/lei | impose | he/she/it imposed |
| noi | imponemmo | we imposed |
| voi | imponeste | you (pl.) imposed |
| loro | imposero | they imposed |
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 | imponevo |
| tu | imponevi |
| lui/lei | imponeva |
| noi | imponevamo |
| voi | imponevate |
| loro | imponevano |
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 | imporrei | I would impose |
| tu | imporresti | you would impose |
| lui/lei | imporrebbe | he/she/it would impose |
| noi | imporremmo | we would impose |
| voi | imporreste | you (pl.) would impose |
| loro | imporrebbero | they would impose |
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 | imporrò | I will impose |
| tu | imporrai | you will impose |
| lui/lei | imporrà | he/she/it will impose |
| noi | imporremo | we will impose |
| voi | imporrete | you (pl.) will impose |
| loro | imporranno | they will impose |
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 imposto | I have imposed |
| tu | hai imposto | you have imposed |
| lui/lei | ha imposto | he/she/it has imposed |
| noi | abbiamo imposto | we have imposed |
| voi | avete imposto | you (pl.) have imposed |
| loro | hanno imposto | they have imposed |
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 imposto | I had imposed |
| tu | avevi imposto | you had imposed |
| lui/lei | aveva imposto | he/she/it had imposed |
| noi | avevamo imposto | we had imposed |
| voi | avevate imposto | you (pl.) had imposed |
| loro | avevano imposto | they had imposed |
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 imposto |
| tu | avresti imposto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe imposto |
| noi | avremmo imposto |
| voi | avreste imposto |
| loro | avrebbero imposto |
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 imposto | I will have imposed |
| tu | avrai imposto | you will have imposed |
| lui/lei | avrà imposto | he/she/it will have imposed |
| noi | avremo imposto | we will have imposed |
| voi | avrete imposto | you (pl.) will have imposed |
| loro | avranno imposto | they will have imposed |
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 | imponga |
| tu | imponga |
| lui/lei | imponga |
| noi | imponiamo |
| voi | imponiate |
| loro | impongano |
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 | imponessi |
| tu | imponessi |
| lui/lei | imponesse |
| noi | imponessimo |
| voi | imponeste |
| loro | imponessero |
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 | imponi |
| lui/lei | imponga |
| noi | imponiamo |
| voi | imponete |
| loro | impongano |
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 imporre |
| lui/lei | non imponga |
| noi | non imponiamo |
| voi | non imponete |
| loro | non impongano |