passare — Italian conjugation

to pass; to go by

Frequency#18RegularAuxiliaryessere

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iopassoI pass
tupassiyou pass
lui/leipassahe/she/it passes
noipassiamowe pass
voipassateyou (pl.) pass
loropassanothey pass

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
iopassaiI passed
tupassastiyou passed
lui/leipassòhe/she/it passed
noipassammowe passed
voipassasteyou (pl.) passed
loropassaronothey passed

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
iopassavo
tupassavi
lui/leipassava
noipassavamo
voipassavate
loropassavano

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
iopassereiI would pass
tupasserestiyou would pass
lui/leipasserebbehe/she/it would pass
noipasseremmowe would pass
voipasseresteyou (pl.) would pass
loropasserebberothey would pass

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iopasseròI will pass
tupasseraiyou will pass
lui/leipasseràhe/she/it will pass
noipasseremowe will pass
voipassereteyou (pl.) will pass
loropasserannothey will pass

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
iosono passato/aI have passed
tusei passato/ayou have passed
lui/leiè passato/ahe/she/it has passed
noisiamo passati/ewe have passed
voisiete passati/eyou (pl.) have passed
lorosono passati/ethey have passed

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
ioero passato/aI had passed
tueri passato/ayou had passed
lui/leiera passato/ahe/she/it had passed
noieravamo passati/ewe had passed
voieravate passati/eyou (pl.) had passed
loroerano passati/ethey had passed

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
iosarei passato/a
tusaresti passato/a
lui/leisarebbe passato/a
noisaremmo passati/e
voisareste passati/e
lorosarebbero passati/e

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
iosarò passato/aI will have passed
tusarai passato/ayou will have passed
lui/leisarà passato/ahe/she/it will have passed
noisaremo passati/ewe will have passed
voisarete passati/eyou (pl.) will have passed
lorosaranno passati/ethey will have passed

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.

PronounItalian
iopassi
tupassi
lui/leipassi
noipassiamo
voipassiate
loropassino

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
iopassassi
tupassassi
lui/leipassasse
noipassassimo
voipassaste
loropassassero

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.

PronounItalian
tupassa
lui/leipassi
noipassiamo
voipassate
loropassino

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.

PronounItalian
tunon passare
lui/leinon passi
noinon passiamo
voinon passate
loronon passino