percepire — Italian conjugation
to perceive
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 | percepisco | I perceive |
| tu | percepisci | you perceive |
| lui/lei | percepisce | he/she/it perceives |
| noi | percepiamo | we perceive |
| voi | percepite | you (pl.) perceive |
| loro | percepiscono | they perceive |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | percepii | I perceived |
| tu | percepisti | you perceived |
| lui/lei | percepì | he/she/it perceived |
| noi | percepimmo | we perceived |
| voi | percepiste | you (pl.) perceived |
| loro | percepirono | they perceived |
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 | percepivo |
| tu | percepivi |
| lui/lei | percepiva |
| noi | percepivamo |
| voi | percepivate |
| loro | percepivano |
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 | percepirei | I would perceive |
| tu | percepiresti | you would perceive |
| lui/lei | percepirebbe | he/she/it would perceive |
| noi | percepiremmo | we would perceive |
| voi | percepireste | you (pl.) would perceive |
| loro | percepirebbero | they would perceive |
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 | percepirò | I will perceive |
| tu | percepirai | you will perceive |
| lui/lei | percepirà | he/she/it will perceive |
| noi | percepiremo | we will perceive |
| voi | percepirete | you (pl.) will perceive |
| loro | percepiranno | they will perceive |
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 percepito | I have perceived |
| tu | hai percepito | you have perceived |
| lui/lei | ha percepito | he/she/it has perceived |
| noi | abbiamo percepito | we have perceived |
| voi | avete percepito | you (pl.) have perceived |
| loro | hanno percepito | they have perceived |
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 percepito | I had perceived |
| tu | avevi percepito | you had perceived |
| lui/lei | aveva percepito | he/she/it had perceived |
| noi | avevamo percepito | we had perceived |
| voi | avevate percepito | you (pl.) had perceived |
| loro | avevano percepito | they had perceived |
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 percepito |
| tu | avresti percepito |
| lui/lei | avrebbe percepito |
| noi | avremmo percepito |
| voi | avreste percepito |
| loro | avrebbero percepito |
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 percepito | I will have perceived |
| tu | avrai percepito | you will have perceived |
| lui/lei | avrà percepito | he/she/it will have perceived |
| noi | avremo percepito | we will have perceived |
| voi | avrete percepito | you (pl.) will have perceived |
| loro | avranno percepito | they will have perceived |
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 | percepisca |
| tu | percepisca |
| lui/lei | percepisca |
| noi | percepiamo |
| voi | percepiate |
| loro | percepiscano |
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 | percepissi |
| tu | percepissi |
| lui/lei | percepisse |
| noi | percepissimo |
| voi | percepiste |
| loro | percepissero |
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 | percepisci |
| lui/lei | percepisca |
| noi | percepiamo |
| voi | percepite |
| loro | percepiscano |
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 percepire |
| lui/lei | non percepisca |
| noi | non percepiamo |
| voi | non percepite |
| loro | non percepiscano |