pronunciare — Italian conjugation

to pronounce

Frequency#759Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iopronuncioI pronounce
tupronunciyou pronounce
lui/leipronunciahe/she/it pronounces
noipronunciamowe pronounce
voipronunciateyou (pl.) pronounce
loropronuncianothey pronounce

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iopronunciaiI pronounced
tupronunciastiyou pronounced
lui/leipronunciòhe/she/it pronounced
noipronunciammowe pronounced
voipronunciasteyou (pl.) pronounced
loropronunciaronothey pronounced

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.

PronounItalian
iopronunciavo
tupronunciavi
lui/leipronunciava
noipronunciavamo
voipronunciavate
loropronunciavano

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?

PronounItalianEnglish
iopronuncereiI would pronounce
tupronuncerestiyou would pronounce
lui/leipronuncerebbehe/she/it would pronounce
noipronunceremmowe would pronounce
voipronunceresteyou (pl.) would pronounce
loropronuncerebberothey would pronounce

Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iopronunceròI will pronounce
tupronunceraiyou will pronounce
lui/leipronunceràhe/she/it will pronounce
noipronunceremowe will pronounce
voipronuncereteyou (pl.) will pronounce
loropronuncerannothey will pronounce

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho pronunciatoI have pronounced
tuhai pronunciatoyou have pronounced
lui/leiha pronunciatohe/she/it has pronounced
noiabbiamo pronunciatowe have pronounced
voiavete pronunciatoyou (pl.) have pronounced
lorohanno pronunciatothey have pronounced

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo pronunciatoI had pronounced
tuavevi pronunciatoyou had pronounced
lui/leiaveva pronunciatohe/she/it had pronounced
noiavevamo pronunciatowe had pronounced
voiavevate pronunciatoyou (pl.) had pronounced
loroavevano pronunciatothey had pronounced

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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei pronunciato
tuavresti pronunciato
lui/leiavrebbe pronunciato
noiavremmo pronunciato
voiavreste pronunciato
loroavrebbero pronunciato

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò pronunciatoI will have pronounced
tuavrai pronunciatoyou will have pronounced
lui/leiavrà pronunciatohe/she/it will have pronounced
noiavremo pronunciatowe will have pronounced
voiavrete pronunciatoyou (pl.) will have pronounced
loroavranno pronunciatothey will have pronounced

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
iopronunci
tupronunci
lui/leipronunci
noipronunciamo
voipronunciate
loropronuncino

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.

PronounItalian
iopronunciassi
tupronunciassi
lui/leipronunciasse
noipronunciassimo
voipronunciaste
loropronunciassero

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
tupronuncia
lui/leipronunci
noipronunciamo
voipronunciate
loropronuncino

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
tunon pronunciare
lui/leinon pronunci
noinon pronunciamo
voinon pronunciate
loronon pronuncino