restare — Italian conjugation
to stay
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 | resto | I stay |
| tu | resti | you stay |
| lui/lei | resta | he/she/it stays |
| noi | restiamo | we stay |
| voi | restate | you (pl.) stay |
| loro | restano | they stay |
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 | restai | I stayed |
| tu | restasti | you stayed |
| lui/lei | restò | he/she/it stayed |
| noi | restammo | we stayed |
| voi | restaste | you (pl.) stayed |
| loro | restarono | they stayed |
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 | restavo |
| tu | restavi |
| lui/lei | restava |
| noi | restavamo |
| voi | restavate |
| loro | restavano |
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 | resterei | I would stay |
| tu | resteresti | you would stay |
| lui/lei | resterebbe | he/she/it would stay |
| noi | resteremmo | we would stay |
| voi | restereste | you (pl.) would stay |
| loro | resterebbero | they would stay |
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 | resterò | I will stay |
| tu | resterai | you will stay |
| lui/lei | resterà | he/she/it will stay |
| noi | resteremo | we will stay |
| voi | resterete | you (pl.) will stay |
| loro | resteranno | they will stay |
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 | sono restato/a | I have stayed |
| tu | sei restato/a | you have stayed |
| lui/lei | è restato/a | he/she/it has stayed |
| noi | siamo restati/e | we have stayed |
| voi | siete restati/e | you (pl.) have stayed |
| loro | sono restati/e | they have stayed |
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 | ero restato/a | I had stayed |
| tu | eri restato/a | you had stayed |
| lui/lei | era restato/a | he/she/it had stayed |
| noi | eravamo restati/e | we had stayed |
| voi | eravate restati/e | you (pl.) had stayed |
| loro | erano restati/e | they had stayed |
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 | sarei restato/a |
| tu | saresti restato/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe restato/a |
| noi | saremmo restati/e |
| voi | sareste restati/e |
| loro | sarebbero restati/e |
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 | sarò restato/a | I will have stayed |
| tu | sarai restato/a | you will have stayed |
| lui/lei | sarà restato/a | he/she/it will have stayed |
| noi | saremo restati/e | we will have stayed |
| voi | sarete restati/e | you (pl.) will have stayed |
| loro | saranno restati/e | they will have stayed |
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 | resti |
| tu | resti |
| lui/lei | resti |
| noi | restiamo |
| voi | restiate |
| loro | restino |
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 | restassi |
| tu | restassi |
| lui/lei | restasse |
| noi | restassimo |
| voi | restaste |
| loro | restassero |
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 | resta |
| lui/lei | resti |
| noi | restiamo |
| voi | restate |
| loro | restino |
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 restare |
| lui/lei | non resti |
| noi | non restiamo |
| voi | non restate |
| loro | non restino |