pilotare — Italian conjugation
to pilot (an aircraft or ship)
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | piloto | I pilot |
| tu | piloti | you pilot |
| lui/lei | pilota | he/she/it pilots |
| noi | pilotiamo | we pilot |
| voi | pilotate | you (pl.) pilot |
| loro | pilotano | they pilot |
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 | pilotai | I piloted |
| tu | pilotasti | you piloted |
| lui/lei | pilotò | he/she/it piloted |
| noi | pilotammo | we piloted |
| voi | pilotaste | you (pl.) piloted |
| loro | pilotarono | they piloted |
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 | pilotavo |
| tu | pilotavi |
| lui/lei | pilotava |
| noi | pilotavamo |
| voi | pilotavate |
| loro | pilotavano |
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 | piloterei | I would pilot |
| tu | piloteresti | you would pilot |
| lui/lei | piloterebbe | he/she/it would pilot |
| noi | piloteremmo | we would pilot |
| voi | pilotereste | you (pl.) would pilot |
| loro | piloterebbero | they would pilot |
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 | piloterò | I will pilot |
| tu | piloterai | you will pilot |
| lui/lei | piloterà | he/she/it will pilot |
| noi | piloteremo | we will pilot |
| voi | piloterete | you (pl.) will pilot |
| loro | piloteranno | they will pilot |
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 pilotato | I have piloted |
| tu | hai pilotato | you have piloted |
| lui/lei | ha pilotato | he/she/it has piloted |
| noi | abbiamo pilotato | we have piloted |
| voi | avete pilotato | you (pl.) have piloted |
| loro | hanno pilotato | they have piloted |
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 pilotato | I had piloted |
| tu | avevi pilotato | you had piloted |
| lui/lei | aveva pilotato | he/she/it had piloted |
| noi | avevamo pilotato | we had piloted |
| voi | avevate pilotato | you (pl.) had piloted |
| loro | avevano pilotato | they had piloted |
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 pilotato |
| tu | avresti pilotato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe pilotato |
| noi | avremmo pilotato |
| voi | avreste pilotato |
| loro | avrebbero pilotato |
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 pilotato | I will have piloted |
| tu | avrai pilotato | you will have piloted |
| lui/lei | avrà pilotato | he/she/it will have piloted |
| noi | avremo pilotato | we will have piloted |
| voi | avrete pilotato | you (pl.) will have piloted |
| loro | avranno pilotato | they will have piloted |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | piloti |
| tu | piloti |
| lui/lei | piloti |
| noi | pilotiamo |
| voi | pilotiate |
| loro | pilotino |
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 | pilotassi |
| tu | pilotassi |
| lui/lei | pilotasse |
| noi | pilotassimo |
| voi | pilotaste |
| loro | pilotassero |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | pilota |
| lui/lei | piloti |
| noi | pilotiamo |
| voi | pilotate |
| loro | pilotino |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non pilotare |
| lui/lei | non piloti |
| noi | non pilotiamo |
| voi | non pilotate |
| loro | non pilotino |