posare — Italian conjugation
to place
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 | poso | I place |
| tu | posi | you place |
| lui/lei | posa | he/she/it places |
| noi | posiamo | we place |
| voi | posate | you (pl.) place |
| loro | posano | they place |
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 | posai | I placed |
| tu | posasti | you placed |
| lui/lei | posò | he/she/it placed |
| noi | posammo | we placed |
| voi | posaste | you (pl.) placed |
| loro | posarono | they placed |
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 | posavo |
| tu | posavi |
| lui/lei | posava |
| noi | posavamo |
| voi | posavate |
| loro | posavano |
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 | poserei | I would place |
| tu | poseresti | you would place |
| lui/lei | poserebbe | he/she/it would place |
| noi | poseremmo | we would place |
| voi | posereste | you (pl.) would place |
| loro | poserebbero | they would place |
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 | poserò | I will place |
| tu | poserai | you will place |
| lui/lei | poserà | he/she/it will place |
| noi | poseremo | we will place |
| voi | poserete | you (pl.) will place |
| loro | poseranno | they will place |
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 posato | I have placed |
| tu | hai posato | you have placed |
| lui/lei | ha posato | he/she/it has placed |
| noi | abbiamo posato | we have placed |
| voi | avete posato | you (pl.) have placed |
| loro | hanno posato | they have placed |
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 posato | I had placed |
| tu | avevi posato | you had placed |
| lui/lei | aveva posato | he/she/it had placed |
| noi | avevamo posato | we had placed |
| voi | avevate posato | you (pl.) had placed |
| loro | avevano posato | they had placed |
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 posato |
| tu | avresti posato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe posato |
| noi | avremmo posato |
| voi | avreste posato |
| loro | avrebbero posato |
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 posato | I will have placed |
| tu | avrai posato | you will have placed |
| lui/lei | avrà posato | he/she/it will have placed |
| noi | avremo posato | we will have placed |
| voi | avrete posato | you (pl.) will have placed |
| loro | avranno posato | they will have placed |
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 | posi |
| tu | posi |
| lui/lei | posi |
| noi | posiamo |
| voi | posiate |
| loro | posino |
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 | posassi |
| tu | posassi |
| lui/lei | posasse |
| noi | posassimo |
| voi | posaste |
| loro | posassero |
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 | posa |
| lui/lei | posi |
| noi | posiamo |
| voi | posate |
| loro | posino |
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 posare |
| lui/lei | non posi |
| noi | non posiamo |
| voi | non posate |
| loro | non posino |