interrogare — Italian conjugation

to interrogate

Frequency#656Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iointerrogoI interrogate
tuinterroghiyou interrogate
lui/leiinterrogahe/she/it interrogates
noiinterroghiamowe interrogate
voiinterrogateyou (pl.) interrogate
lorointerroganothey interrogate

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iointerrogaiI interrogated
tuinterrogastiyou interrogated
lui/leiinterrogòhe/she/it interrogated
noiinterrogammowe interrogated
voiinterrogasteyou (pl.) interrogated
lorointerrogaronothey interrogated

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.

PronounItalian
iointerrogavo
tuinterrogavi
lui/leiinterrogava
noiinterrogavamo
voiinterrogavate
lorointerrogavano

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?

PronounItalianEnglish
iointerroghereiI would interrogate
tuinterrogherestiyou would interrogate
lui/leiinterrogherebbehe/she/it would interrogate
noiinterrogheremmowe would interrogate
voiinterrogheresteyou (pl.) would interrogate
lorointerrogherebberothey would interrogate

Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iointerrogheròI will interrogate
tuinterrogheraiyou will interrogate
lui/leiinterrogheràhe/she/it will interrogate
noiinterrogheremowe will interrogate
voiinterroghereteyou (pl.) will interrogate
lorointerrogherannothey will interrogate

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho interrogatoI have interrogated
tuhai interrogatoyou have interrogated
lui/leiha interrogatohe/she/it has interrogated
noiabbiamo interrogatowe have interrogated
voiavete interrogatoyou (pl.) have interrogated
lorohanno interrogatothey have interrogated

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo interrogatoI had interrogated
tuavevi interrogatoyou had interrogated
lui/leiaveva interrogatohe/she/it had interrogated
noiavevamo interrogatowe had interrogated
voiavevate interrogatoyou (pl.) had interrogated
loroavevano interrogatothey had interrogated

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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei interrogato
tuavresti interrogato
lui/leiavrebbe interrogato
noiavremmo interrogato
voiavreste interrogato
loroavrebbero interrogato

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò interrogatoI will have interrogated
tuavrai interrogatoyou will have interrogated
lui/leiavrà interrogatohe/she/it will have interrogated
noiavremo interrogatowe will have interrogated
voiavrete interrogatoyou (pl.) will have interrogated
loroavranno interrogatothey will have interrogated

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
iointerroghi
tuinterroghi
lui/leiinterroghi
noiinterroghiamo
voiinterroghiate
lorointerroghino

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.

PronounItalian
iointerrogassi
tuinterrogassi
lui/leiinterrogasse
noiinterrogassimo
voiinterrogaste
lorointerrogassero

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
tuinterroga
lui/leiinterroghi
noiinterroghiamo
voiinterrogate
lorointerroghino

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
tunon interrogare
lui/leinon interroghi
noinon interroghiamo
voinon interrogate
loronon interroghino