patire — Italian conjugation

to suffer

Frequency#1261Irregular

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
iopatiscoI suffer
tupatisciyou suffer
lui/leipatiscehe/she/it suffers
noipatiamowe suffer
voipatiteyou (pl.) suffer
loropatisconothey suffer

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
iopatiiI suffered
tupatistiyou suffered
lui/leipatìhe/she/it suffered
noipatimmowe suffered
voipatisteyou (pl.) suffered
loropatironothey suffered

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
iopativo
tupativi
lui/leipativa
noipativamo
voipativate
loropativano

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
iopatireiI would suffer
tupatirestiyou would suffer
lui/leipatirebbehe/she/it would suffer
noipatiremmowe would suffer
voipatiresteyou (pl.) would suffer
loropatirebberothey would suffer

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
iopatiròI will suffer
tupatiraiyou will suffer
lui/leipatiràhe/she/it will suffer
noipatiremowe will suffer
voipatireteyou (pl.) will suffer
loropatirannothey will suffer

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 patitoI have suffered
tuhai patitoyou have suffered
lui/leiha patitohe/she/it has suffered
noiabbiamo patitowe have suffered
voiavete patitoyou (pl.) have suffered
lorohanno patitothey have suffered

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 patitoI had suffered
tuavevi patitoyou had suffered
lui/leiaveva patitohe/she/it had suffered
noiavevamo patitowe had suffered
voiavevate patitoyou (pl.) had suffered
loroavevano patitothey had suffered

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 patito
tuavresti patito
lui/leiavrebbe patito
noiavremmo patito
voiavreste patito
loroavrebbero patito

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 patitoI will have suffered
tuavrai patitoyou will have suffered
lui/leiavrà patitohe/she/it will have suffered
noiavremo patitowe will have suffered
voiavrete patitoyou (pl.) will have suffered
loroavranno patitothey will have suffered

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
iopatisca
tupatisca
lui/leipatisca
noipatiamo
voipatiate
loropatiscano

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
iopatissi
tupatissi
lui/leipatisse
noipatissimo
voipatiste
loropatissero

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
tupatisci
lui/leipatisca
noipatiamo
voipatite
loropatiscano

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 patire
lui/leinon patisca
noinon patiamo
voinon patite
loronon patiscano