potare — Italian conjugation
to prune, to trim
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 | poto | I prune |
| tu | poti | you prune |
| lui/lei | pota | he/she/it prunes |
| noi | potiamo | we prune |
| voi | potate | you (pl.) prune |
| loro | potano | they prune |
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 | potai | I pruned |
| tu | potasti | you pruned |
| lui/lei | potò | he/she/it pruned |
| noi | potammo | we pruned |
| voi | potaste | you (pl.) pruned |
| loro | potarono | they pruned |
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 | potavo |
| tu | potavi |
| lui/lei | potava |
| noi | potavamo |
| voi | potavate |
| loro | potavano |
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 | poterei | I would prune |
| tu | poteresti | you would prune |
| lui/lei | poterebbe | he/she/it would prune |
| noi | poteremmo | we would prune |
| voi | potereste | you (pl.) would prune |
| loro | poterebbero | they would prune |
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 | poterò | I will prune |
| tu | poterai | you will prune |
| lui/lei | poterà | he/she/it will prune |
| noi | poteremo | we will prune |
| voi | poterete | you (pl.) will prune |
| loro | poteranno | they will prune |
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 potato | I have pruned |
| tu | hai potato | you have pruned |
| lui/lei | ha potato | he/she/it has pruned |
| noi | abbiamo potato | we have pruned |
| voi | avete potato | you (pl.) have pruned |
| loro | hanno potato | they have pruned |
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 potato | I had pruned |
| tu | avevi potato | you had pruned |
| lui/lei | aveva potato | he/she/it had pruned |
| noi | avevamo potato | we had pruned |
| voi | avevate potato | you (pl.) had pruned |
| loro | avevano potato | they had pruned |
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 potato |
| tu | avresti potato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe potato |
| noi | avremmo potato |
| voi | avreste potato |
| loro | avrebbero potato |
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 potato | I will have pruned |
| tu | avrai potato | you will have pruned |
| lui/lei | avrà potato | he/she/it will have pruned |
| noi | avremo potato | we will have pruned |
| voi | avrete potato | you (pl.) will have pruned |
| loro | avranno potato | they will have pruned |
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 | poti |
| tu | poti |
| lui/lei | poti |
| noi | potiamo |
| voi | potiate |
| loro | potino |
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 | potassi |
| tu | potassi |
| lui/lei | potasse |
| noi | potassimo |
| voi | potaste |
| loro | potassero |
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 | pota |
| lui/lei | poti |
| noi | potiamo |
| voi | potate |
| loro | potino |
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 potare |
| lui/lei | non poti |
| noi | non potiamo |
| voi | non potate |
| loro | non potino |