intraprendere — Italian conjugation
to undertake, to set about, to embark upon
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 | intraprendo | I undertake |
| tu | intraprendi | you undertake |
| lui/lei | intraprende | he/she/it undertakes |
| noi | intraprendiamo | we undertake |
| voi | intraprendete | you (pl.) undertake |
| loro | intraprendono | they undertake |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Irregular
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 | intrapresi | I undertook |
| tu | intraprendesti | you undertook |
| lui/lei | intraprese | he/she/it undertook |
| noi | intraprendemmo | we undertook |
| voi | intraprendeste | you (pl.) undertook |
| loro | intrapresero | they undertook |
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 | intraprendevo |
| tu | intraprendevi |
| lui/lei | intraprendeva |
| noi | intraprendevamo |
| voi | intraprendevate |
| loro | intraprendevano |
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 | intraprenderei | I would undertake |
| tu | intraprenderesti | you would undertake |
| lui/lei | intraprenderebbe | he/she/it would undertake |
| noi | intraprenderemmo | we would undertake |
| voi | intraprendereste | you (pl.) would undertake |
| loro | intraprenderebbero | they would undertake |
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 | intraprenderò | I will undertake |
| tu | intraprenderai | you will undertake |
| lui/lei | intraprenderà | he/she/it will undertake |
| noi | intraprenderemo | we will undertake |
| voi | intraprenderete | you (pl.) will undertake |
| loro | intraprenderanno | they will undertake |
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 intrapreso | I have undertaken |
| tu | hai intrapreso | you have undertaken |
| lui/lei | ha intrapreso | he/she/it has undertaken |
| noi | abbiamo intrapreso | we have undertaken |
| voi | avete intrapreso | you (pl.) have undertaken |
| loro | hanno intrapreso | they have undertaken |
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 intrapreso | I had undertaken |
| tu | avevi intrapreso | you had undertaken |
| lui/lei | aveva intrapreso | he/she/it had undertaken |
| noi | avevamo intrapreso | we had undertaken |
| voi | avevate intrapreso | you (pl.) had undertaken |
| loro | avevano intrapreso | they had undertaken |
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 intrapreso |
| tu | avresti intrapreso |
| lui/lei | avrebbe intrapreso |
| noi | avremmo intrapreso |
| voi | avreste intrapreso |
| loro | avrebbero intrapreso |
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 intrapreso | I will have undertaken |
| tu | avrai intrapreso | you will have undertaken |
| lui/lei | avrà intrapreso | he/she/it will have undertaken |
| noi | avremo intrapreso | we will have undertaken |
| voi | avrete intrapreso | you (pl.) will have undertaken |
| loro | avranno intrapreso | they will have undertaken |
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 | intraprenda |
| tu | intraprenda |
| lui/lei | intraprenda |
| noi | intraprendiamo |
| voi | intraprendiate |
| loro | intraprendano |
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 | intraprendessi |
| tu | intraprendessi |
| lui/lei | intraprendesse |
| noi | intraprendessimo |
| voi | intraprendeste |
| loro | intraprendessero |
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 | intraprendi |
| lui/lei | intraprenda |
| noi | intraprendiamo |
| voi | intraprendete |
| loro | intraprendano |
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 intraprendere |
| lui/lei | non intraprenda |
| noi | non intraprendiamo |
| voi | non intraprendete |
| loro | non intraprendano |