prestare — Italian conjugation
to lend
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 | presto | I lend |
| tu | presti | you lend |
| lui/lei | presta | he/she/it lends |
| noi | prestiamo | we lend |
| voi | prestate | you (pl.) lend |
| loro | prestano | they lend |
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 | prestai | I lent |
| tu | prestasti | you lent |
| lui/lei | prestò | he/she/it lent |
| noi | prestammo | we lent |
| voi | prestaste | you (pl.) lent |
| loro | prestarono | they lent |
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 | prestavo |
| tu | prestavi |
| lui/lei | prestava |
| noi | prestavamo |
| voi | prestavate |
| loro | prestavano |
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 | presterei | I would lend |
| tu | presteresti | you would lend |
| lui/lei | presterebbe | he/she/it would lend |
| noi | presteremmo | we would lend |
| voi | prestereste | you (pl.) would lend |
| loro | presterebbero | they would lend |
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 | presterò | I will lend |
| tu | presterai | you will lend |
| lui/lei | presterà | he/she/it will lend |
| noi | presteremo | we will lend |
| voi | presterete | you (pl.) will lend |
| loro | presteranno | they will lend |
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 prestato | I have lent |
| tu | hai prestato | you have lent |
| lui/lei | ha prestato | he/she/it has lent |
| noi | abbiamo prestato | we have lent |
| voi | avete prestato | you (pl.) have lent |
| loro | hanno prestato | they have lent |
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 prestato | I had lent |
| tu | avevi prestato | you had lent |
| lui/lei | aveva prestato | he/she/it had lent |
| noi | avevamo prestato | we had lent |
| voi | avevate prestato | you (pl.) had lent |
| loro | avevano prestato | they had lent |
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 prestato |
| tu | avresti prestato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe prestato |
| noi | avremmo prestato |
| voi | avreste prestato |
| loro | avrebbero prestato |
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 prestato | I will have lent |
| tu | avrai prestato | you will have lent |
| lui/lei | avrà prestato | he/she/it will have lent |
| noi | avremo prestato | we will have lent |
| voi | avrete prestato | you (pl.) will have lent |
| loro | avranno prestato | they will have lent |
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 | presti |
| tu | presti |
| lui/lei | presti |
| noi | prestiamo |
| voi | prestiate |
| loro | prestino |
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 | prestassi |
| tu | prestassi |
| lui/lei | prestasse |
| noi | prestassimo |
| voi | prestaste |
| loro | prestassero |
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 | presta |
| lui/lei | presti |
| noi | prestiamo |
| voi | prestate |
| loro | prestino |
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 prestare |
| lui/lei | non presti |
| noi | non prestiamo |
| voi | non prestate |
| loro | non prestino |