pescare — Italian conjugation

to fish

Frequency#507Irregular

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
iopescoI fish
tupeschiyou fish
lui/leipescahe/she/it fishes
noipeschiamowe fish
voipescateyou (pl.) fish
loropescanothey fish

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
iopescaiI fished
tupescastiyou fished
lui/leipescòhe/she/it fished
noipescammowe fished
voipescasteyou (pl.) fished
loropescaronothey fished

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
iopescavo
tupescavi
lui/leipescava
noipescavamo
voipescavate
loropescavano

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
iopeschereiI would fish
tupescherestiyou would fish
lui/leipescherebbehe/she/it would fish
noipescheremmowe would fish
voipescheresteyou (pl.) would fish
loropescherebberothey would fish

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iopescheròI will fish
tupescheraiyou will fish
lui/leipescheràhe/she/it will fish
noipescheremowe will fish
voipeschereteyou (pl.) will fish
loropescherannothey will fish

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 pescatoI have fished
tuhai pescatoyou have fished
lui/leiha pescatohe/she/it has fished
noiabbiamo pescatowe have fished
voiavete pescatoyou (pl.) have fished
lorohanno pescatothey have fished

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 pescatoI had fished
tuavevi pescatoyou had fished
lui/leiaveva pescatohe/she/it had fished
noiavevamo pescatowe had fished
voiavevate pescatoyou (pl.) had fished
loroavevano pescatothey had fished

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 pescato
tuavresti pescato
lui/leiavrebbe pescato
noiavremmo pescato
voiavreste pescato
loroavrebbero pescato

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 pescatoI will have fished
tuavrai pescatoyou will have fished
lui/leiavrà pescatohe/she/it will have fished
noiavremo pescatowe will have fished
voiavrete pescatoyou (pl.) will have fished
loroavranno pescatothey will have fished

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
iopeschi
tupeschi
lui/leipeschi
noipeschiamo
voipeschiate
loropeschino

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
iopescassi
tupescassi
lui/leipescasse
noipescassimo
voipescaste
loropescassero

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
tupesca
lui/leipeschi
noipeschiamo
voipescate
loropeschino

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 pescare
lui/leinon peschi
noinon peschiamo
voinon pescate
loronon peschino