prendere — Italian conjugation
to take
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 | prendo | I take |
| tu | prendi | you take |
| lui/lei | prende | he/she/it takes |
| noi | prendiamo | we take |
| voi | prendete | you (pl.) take |
| loro | prendono | they take |
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 | presi | I took |
| tu | prendesti | you took |
| lui/lei | prese | he/she/it took |
| noi | prendemmo | we took |
| voi | prendeste | you (pl.) took |
| loro | presero | they took |
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 | prendevo |
| tu | prendevi |
| lui/lei | prendeva |
| noi | prendevamo |
| voi | prendevate |
| loro | prendevano |
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 | prenderei | I would take |
| tu | prenderesti | you would take |
| lui/lei | prenderebbe | he/she/it would take |
| noi | prenderemmo | we would take |
| voi | prendereste | you (pl.) would take |
| loro | prenderebbero | they would take |
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 | prenderò | I will take |
| tu | prenderai | you will take |
| lui/lei | prenderà | he/she/it will take |
| noi | prenderemo | we will take |
| voi | prenderete | you (pl.) will take |
| loro | prenderanno | they will take |
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 preso | I have taken |
| tu | hai preso | you have taken |
| lui/lei | ha preso | he/she/it has taken |
| noi | abbiamo preso | we have taken |
| voi | avete preso | you (pl.) have taken |
| loro | hanno preso | they have taken |
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 preso | I had taken |
| tu | avevi preso | you had taken |
| lui/lei | aveva preso | he/she/it had taken |
| noi | avevamo preso | we had taken |
| voi | avevate preso | you (pl.) had taken |
| loro | avevano preso | they had taken |
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 preso |
| tu | avresti preso |
| lui/lei | avrebbe preso |
| noi | avremmo preso |
| voi | avreste preso |
| loro | avrebbero preso |
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 preso | I will have taken |
| tu | avrai preso | you will have taken |
| lui/lei | avrà preso | he/she/it will have taken |
| noi | avremo preso | we will have taken |
| voi | avrete preso | you (pl.) will have taken |
| loro | avranno preso | they will have taken |
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 | prenda |
| tu | prenda |
| lui/lei | prenda |
| noi | prendiamo |
| voi | prendiate |
| loro | prendano |
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 | prendessi |
| tu | prendessi |
| lui/lei | prendesse |
| noi | prendessimo |
| voi | prendeste |
| loro | prendessero |
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 | prendi |
| lui/lei | prenda |
| noi | prendiamo |
| voi | prendete |
| loro | prendano |
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 prendere |
| lui/lei | non prenda |
| noi | non prendiamo |
| voi | non prendete |
| loro | non prendano |