porre — Italian conjugation
to put
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 | pongo | I put |
| tu | poni | you put |
| lui/lei | pone | he/she/it puts |
| noi | poniamo | we put |
| voi | ponete | you (pl.) put |
| loro | pongono | they put |
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 | posi | I put |
| tu | ponesti | you put |
| lui/lei | pose | he/she/it put |
| noi | ponemmo | we put |
| voi | poneste | you (pl.) put |
| loro | posero | they put |
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 | ponevo |
| tu | ponevi |
| lui/lei | poneva |
| noi | ponevamo |
| voi | ponevate |
| loro | ponevano |
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 | porrei | I would put |
| tu | porresti | you would put |
| lui/lei | porrebbe | he/she/it would put |
| noi | porremmo | we would put |
| voi | porreste | you (pl.) would put |
| loro | porrebbero | they would put |
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 | porrò | I will put |
| tu | porrai | you will put |
| lui/lei | porrà | he/she/it will put |
| noi | porremo | we will put |
| voi | porrete | you (pl.) will put |
| loro | porranno | they will put |
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 posto | I have put |
| tu | hai posto | you have put |
| lui/lei | ha posto | he/she/it has put |
| noi | abbiamo posto | we have put |
| voi | avete posto | you (pl.) have put |
| loro | hanno posto | they have put |
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 posto | I had put |
| tu | avevi posto | you had put |
| lui/lei | aveva posto | he/she/it had put |
| noi | avevamo posto | we had put |
| voi | avevate posto | you (pl.) had put |
| loro | avevano posto | they had put |
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 posto |
| tu | avresti posto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe posto |
| noi | avremmo posto |
| voi | avreste posto |
| loro | avrebbero posto |
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 posto | I will have put |
| tu | avrai posto | you will have put |
| lui/lei | avrà posto | he/she/it will have put |
| noi | avremo posto | we will have put |
| voi | avrete posto | you (pl.) will have put |
| loro | avranno posto | they will have put |
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 | ponga |
| tu | ponga |
| lui/lei | ponga |
| noi | poniamo |
| voi | poniate |
| loro | pongano |
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 | ponessi |
| tu | ponessi |
| lui/lei | ponesse |
| noi | ponessimo |
| voi | poneste |
| loro | ponessero |
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 | poni |
| lui/lei | ponga |
| noi | poniamo |
| voi | ponete |
| loro | pongano |
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 porre |
| lui/lei | non ponga |
| noi | non poniamo |
| voi | non ponete |
| loro | non pongano |