incontrare — Italian conjugation
to meet
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 | incontro | I meet |
| tu | incontri | you meet |
| lui/lei | incontra | he/she/it meets |
| noi | incontriamo | we meet |
| voi | incontrate | you (pl.) meet |
| loro | incontrano | they meet |
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 | incontrai | I met |
| tu | incontrasti | you met |
| lui/lei | incontrò | he/she/it met |
| noi | incontrammo | we met |
| voi | incontraste | you (pl.) met |
| loro | incontrarono | they met |
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 | incontravo |
| tu | incontravi |
| lui/lei | incontrava |
| noi | incontravamo |
| voi | incontravate |
| loro | incontravano |
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 | incontrerei | I would meet |
| tu | incontreresti | you would meet |
| lui/lei | incontrerebbe | he/she/it would meet |
| noi | incontreremmo | we would meet |
| voi | incontrereste | you (pl.) would meet |
| loro | incontrerebbero | they would meet |
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 | incontrerò | I will meet |
| tu | incontrerai | you will meet |
| lui/lei | incontrerà | he/she/it will meet |
| noi | incontreremo | we will meet |
| voi | incontrerete | you (pl.) will meet |
| loro | incontreranno | they will meet |
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 incontrato | I have met |
| tu | hai incontrato | you have met |
| lui/lei | ha incontrato | he/she/it has met |
| noi | abbiamo incontrato | we have met |
| voi | avete incontrato | you (pl.) have met |
| loro | hanno incontrato | they have met |
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 incontrato | I had met |
| tu | avevi incontrato | you had met |
| lui/lei | aveva incontrato | he/she/it had met |
| noi | avevamo incontrato | we had met |
| voi | avevate incontrato | you (pl.) had met |
| loro | avevano incontrato | they had met |
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 incontrato |
| tu | avresti incontrato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe incontrato |
| noi | avremmo incontrato |
| voi | avreste incontrato |
| loro | avrebbero incontrato |
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 incontrato | I will have met |
| tu | avrai incontrato | you will have met |
| lui/lei | avrà incontrato | he/she/it will have met |
| noi | avremo incontrato | we will have met |
| voi | avrete incontrato | you (pl.) will have met |
| loro | avranno incontrato | they will have met |
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 | incontri |
| tu | incontri |
| lui/lei | incontri |
| noi | incontriamo |
| voi | incontriate |
| loro | incontrino |
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 | incontrassi |
| tu | incontrassi |
| lui/lei | incontrasse |
| noi | incontrassimo |
| voi | incontraste |
| loro | incontrassero |
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 | incontra |
| lui/lei | incontri |
| noi | incontriamo |
| voi | incontrate |
| loro | incontrino |
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 incontrare |
| lui/lei | non incontri |
| noi | non incontriamo |
| voi | non incontrate |
| loro | non incontrino |