promettere — Italian conjugation
to promise
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 | prometto | I promise |
| tu | prometti | you promise |
| lui/lei | promette | he/she/it promises |
| noi | promettiamo | we promise |
| voi | promettete | you (pl.) promise |
| loro | promettono | they promise |
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 | promisi | I promised |
| tu | promettesti | you promised |
| lui/lei | promise | he/she/it promised |
| noi | promettemmo | we promised |
| voi | prometteste | you (pl.) promised |
| loro | promisero | they promised |
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 | promettevo |
| tu | promettevi |
| lui/lei | prometteva |
| noi | promettevamo |
| voi | promettevate |
| loro | promettevano |
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 | prometterei | I would promise |
| tu | prometteresti | you would promise |
| lui/lei | prometterebbe | he/she/it would promise |
| noi | prometteremmo | we would promise |
| voi | promettereste | you (pl.) would promise |
| loro | prometterebbero | they would promise |
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 | prometterò | I will promise |
| tu | prometterai | you will promise |
| lui/lei | prometterà | he/she/it will promise |
| noi | prometteremo | we will promise |
| voi | prometterete | you (pl.) will promise |
| loro | prometteranno | they will promise |
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 promesso | I have promised |
| tu | hai promesso | you have promised |
| lui/lei | ha promesso | he/she/it has promised |
| noi | abbiamo promesso | we have promised |
| voi | avete promesso | you (pl.) have promised |
| loro | hanno promesso | they have promised |
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 promesso | I had promised |
| tu | avevi promesso | you had promised |
| lui/lei | aveva promesso | he/she/it had promised |
| noi | avevamo promesso | we had promised |
| voi | avevate promesso | you (pl.) had promised |
| loro | avevano promesso | they had promised |
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 promesso |
| tu | avresti promesso |
| lui/lei | avrebbe promesso |
| noi | avremmo promesso |
| voi | avreste promesso |
| loro | avrebbero promesso |
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 promesso | I will have promised |
| tu | avrai promesso | you will have promised |
| lui/lei | avrà promesso | he/she/it will have promised |
| noi | avremo promesso | we will have promised |
| voi | avrete promesso | you (pl.) will have promised |
| loro | avranno promesso | they will have promised |
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 | prometta |
| tu | prometta |
| lui/lei | prometta |
| noi | promettiamo |
| voi | promettiate |
| loro | promettano |
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 | promettessi |
| tu | promettessi |
| lui/lei | promettesse |
| noi | promettessimo |
| voi | prometteste |
| loro | promettessero |
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 | prometti |
| lui/lei | prometta |
| noi | promettiamo |
| voi | promettete |
| loro | promettano |
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 promettere |
| lui/lei | non prometta |
| noi | non promettiamo |
| voi | non promettete |
| loro | non promettano |