ricattare — Italian conjugation
to blackmail
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 | ricatto | I blackmail |
| tu | ricatti | you blackmail |
| lui/lei | ricatta | he/she/it blackmails |
| noi | ricattiamo | we blackmail |
| voi | ricattate | you (pl.) blackmail |
| loro | ricattano | they blackmail |
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 | ricattai | I blackmailed |
| tu | ricattasti | you blackmailed |
| lui/lei | ricattò | he/she/it blackmailed |
| noi | ricattammo | we blackmailed |
| voi | ricattaste | you (pl.) blackmailed |
| loro | ricattarono | they blackmailed |
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 | ricattavo |
| tu | ricattavi |
| lui/lei | ricattava |
| noi | ricattavamo |
| voi | ricattavate |
| loro | ricattavano |
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 | ricatterei | I would blackmail |
| tu | ricatteresti | you would blackmail |
| lui/lei | ricatterebbe | he/she/it would blackmail |
| noi | ricatteremmo | we would blackmail |
| voi | ricattereste | you (pl.) would blackmail |
| loro | ricatterebbero | they would blackmail |
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 | ricatterò | I will blackmail |
| tu | ricatterai | you will blackmail |
| lui/lei | ricatterà | he/she/it will blackmail |
| noi | ricatteremo | we will blackmail |
| voi | ricatterete | you (pl.) will blackmail |
| loro | ricatteranno | they will blackmail |
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 ricattato | I have blackmailed |
| tu | hai ricattato | you have blackmailed |
| lui/lei | ha ricattato | he/she/it has blackmailed |
| noi | abbiamo ricattato | we have blackmailed |
| voi | avete ricattato | you (pl.) have blackmailed |
| loro | hanno ricattato | they have blackmailed |
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 ricattato | I had blackmailed |
| tu | avevi ricattato | you had blackmailed |
| lui/lei | aveva ricattato | he/she/it had blackmailed |
| noi | avevamo ricattato | we had blackmailed |
| voi | avevate ricattato | you (pl.) had blackmailed |
| loro | avevano ricattato | they had blackmailed |
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 ricattato |
| tu | avresti ricattato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe ricattato |
| noi | avremmo ricattato |
| voi | avreste ricattato |
| loro | avrebbero ricattato |
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 ricattato | I will have blackmailed |
| tu | avrai ricattato | you will have blackmailed |
| lui/lei | avrà ricattato | he/she/it will have blackmailed |
| noi | avremo ricattato | we will have blackmailed |
| voi | avrete ricattato | you (pl.) will have blackmailed |
| loro | avranno ricattato | they will have blackmailed |
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 | ricatti |
| tu | ricatti |
| lui/lei | ricatti |
| noi | ricattiamo |
| voi | ricattiate |
| loro | ricattino |
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 | ricattassi |
| tu | ricattassi |
| lui/lei | ricattasse |
| noi | ricattassimo |
| voi | ricattaste |
| loro | ricattassero |
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 | ricatta |
| lui/lei | ricatti |
| noi | ricattiamo |
| voi | ricattate |
| loro | ricattino |
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 ricattare |
| lui/lei | non ricatti |
| noi | non ricattiamo |
| voi | non ricattate |
| loro | non ricattino |