regnare — Italian conjugation

to reign

Frequency#986Irregular

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
ioregnoI reign
turegniyou reign
lui/leiregnahe/she/it reigns
noiregniamowe reign
voiregnateyou (pl.) reign
lororegnanothey reign

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
ioregnaiI reigned
turegnastiyou reigned
lui/leiregnòhe/she/it reigned
noiregnammowe reigned
voiregnasteyou (pl.) reigned
lororegnaronothey reigned

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
ioregnavo
turegnavi
lui/leiregnava
noiregnavamo
voiregnavate
lororegnavano

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
ioregnereiI would reign
turegnerestiyou would reign
lui/leiregnerebbehe/she/it would reign
noiregneremmowe would reign
voiregneresteyou (pl.) would reign
lororegnerebberothey would reign

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioregneròI will reign
turegneraiyou will reign
lui/leiregneràhe/she/it will reign
noiregneremowe will reign
voiregnereteyou (pl.) will reign
lororegnerannothey will reign

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 regnatoI have reigned
tuhai regnatoyou have reigned
lui/leiha regnatohe/she/it has reigned
noiabbiamo regnatowe have reigned
voiavete regnatoyou (pl.) have reigned
lorohanno regnatothey have reigned

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 regnatoI had reigned
tuavevi regnatoyou had reigned
lui/leiaveva regnatohe/she/it had reigned
noiavevamo regnatowe had reigned
voiavevate regnatoyou (pl.) had reigned
loroavevano regnatothey had reigned

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 regnato
tuavresti regnato
lui/leiavrebbe regnato
noiavremmo regnato
voiavreste regnato
loroavrebbero regnato

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 regnatoI will have reigned
tuavrai regnatoyou will have reigned
lui/leiavrà regnatohe/she/it will have reigned
noiavremo regnatowe will have reigned
voiavrete regnatoyou (pl.) will have reigned
loroavranno regnatothey will have reigned

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
ioregni
turegni
lui/leiregni
noiregniamo
voiregniate
lororegnino

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
ioregnassi
turegnassi
lui/leiregnasse
noiregnassimo
voiregnaste
lororegnassero

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.

PronounItalian
turegna
lui/leiregni
noiregniamo
voiregnate
lororegnino

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.

PronounItalian
tunon regnare
lui/leinon regni
noinon regniamo
voinon regnate
loronon regnino