mantenere — Italian conjugation
to maintain
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | mantengo | I maintain |
| tu | mantieni | you maintain |
| lui/lei | mantiene | he/she/it maintains |
| noi | manteniamo | we maintain |
| voi | mantenete | you (pl.) maintain |
| loro | mantengono | they maintain |
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 | mantenni | I maintained |
| tu | mantenesti | you maintained |
| lui/lei | mantenne | he/she/it maintained |
| noi | mantenemmo | we maintained |
| voi | manteneste | you (pl.) maintained |
| loro | mantennero | they maintained |
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 | mantenevo |
| tu | mantenevi |
| lui/lei | manteneva |
| noi | mantenevamo |
| voi | mantenevate |
| loro | mantenevano |
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 | manterrei | I would maintain |
| tu | manterresti | you would maintain |
| lui/lei | manterrebbe | he/she/it would maintain |
| noi | manterremmo | we would maintain |
| voi | manterreste | you (pl.) would maintain |
| loro | manterrebbero | they would maintain |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | manterrò | I will maintain |
| tu | manterrai | you will maintain |
| lui/lei | manterrà | he/she/it will maintain |
| noi | manterremo | we will maintain |
| voi | manterrete | you (pl.) will maintain |
| loro | manterranno | they will maintain |
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 mantenuto | I have maintained |
| tu | hai mantenuto | you have maintained |
| lui/lei | ha mantenuto | he/she/it has maintained |
| noi | abbiamo mantenuto | we have maintained |
| voi | avete mantenuto | you (pl.) have maintained |
| loro | hanno mantenuto | they have maintained |
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 mantenuto | I had maintained |
| tu | avevi mantenuto | you had maintained |
| lui/lei | aveva mantenuto | he/she/it had maintained |
| noi | avevamo mantenuto | we had maintained |
| voi | avevate mantenuto | you (pl.) had maintained |
| loro | avevano mantenuto | they had maintained |
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 mantenuto |
| tu | avresti mantenuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe mantenuto |
| noi | avremmo mantenuto |
| voi | avreste mantenuto |
| loro | avrebbero mantenuto |
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 mantenuto | I will have maintained |
| tu | avrai mantenuto | you will have maintained |
| lui/lei | avrà mantenuto | he/she/it will have maintained |
| noi | avremo mantenuto | we will have maintained |
| voi | avrete mantenuto | you (pl.) will have maintained |
| loro | avranno mantenuto | they will have maintained |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | mantenga |
| tu | mantenga |
| lui/lei | mantenga |
| noi | manteniamo |
| voi | manteniate |
| loro | mantengano |
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 | mantenessi |
| tu | mantenessi |
| lui/lei | mantenesse |
| noi | mantenessimo |
| voi | manteneste |
| loro | mantenessero |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | mantieni |
| lui/lei | mantenga |
| noi | manteniamo |
| voi | mantenete |
| loro | mantengano |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non mantenere |
| lui/lei | non mantenga |
| noi | non manteniamo |
| voi | non mantenete |
| loro | non mantengano |