premere — Italian conjugation
to press
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 | premo | I press |
| tu | premi | you press |
| lui/lei | preme | he/she/it presses |
| noi | premiamo | we press |
| voi | premete | you (pl.) press |
| loro | premono | they press |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Irregular
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 | premetti | I pressed |
| tu | premesti | you pressed |
| lui/lei | premette | he/she/it pressed |
| noi | prememmo | we pressed |
| voi | premeste | you (pl.) pressed |
| loro | premettero | they pressed |
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 | premevo |
| tu | premevi |
| lui/lei | premeva |
| noi | premevamo |
| voi | premevate |
| loro | premevano |
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 | premerei | I would press |
| tu | premeresti | you would press |
| lui/lei | premerebbe | he/she/it would press |
| noi | premeremmo | we would press |
| voi | premereste | you (pl.) would press |
| loro | premerebbero | they would press |
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 | premerò | I will press |
| tu | premerai | you will press |
| lui/lei | premerà | he/she/it will press |
| noi | premeremo | we will press |
| voi | premerete | you (pl.) will press |
| loro | premeranno | they will press |
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 premuto | I have pressed |
| tu | hai premuto | you have pressed |
| lui/lei | ha premuto | he/she/it has pressed |
| noi | abbiamo premuto | we have pressed |
| voi | avete premuto | you (pl.) have pressed |
| loro | hanno premuto | they have pressed |
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 premuto | I had pressed |
| tu | avevi premuto | you had pressed |
| lui/lei | aveva premuto | he/she/it had pressed |
| noi | avevamo premuto | we had pressed |
| voi | avevate premuto | you (pl.) had pressed |
| loro | avevano premuto | they had pressed |
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 premuto |
| tu | avresti premuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe premuto |
| noi | avremmo premuto |
| voi | avreste premuto |
| loro | avrebbero premuto |
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 premuto | I will have pressed |
| tu | avrai premuto | you will have pressed |
| lui/lei | avrà premuto | he/she/it will have pressed |
| noi | avremo premuto | we will have pressed |
| voi | avrete premuto | you (pl.) will have pressed |
| loro | avranno premuto | they will have pressed |
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 | prema |
| tu | prema |
| lui/lei | prema |
| noi | premiamo |
| voi | premiate |
| loro | premano |
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 | premessi |
| tu | premessi |
| lui/lei | premesse |
| noi | premessimo |
| voi | premeste |
| loro | premessero |
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 | premi |
| lui/lei | prema |
| noi | premiamo |
| voi | premete |
| loro | premano |
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 premere |
| lui/lei | non prema |
| noi | non premiamo |
| voi | non premete |
| loro | non premano |