ricordare — Italian conjugation
to remember
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 | ricordo | I remember |
| tu | ricordi | you remember |
| lui/lei | ricorda | he/she/it remembers |
| noi | ricordiamo | we remember |
| voi | ricordate | you (pl.) remember |
| loro | ricordano | they remember |
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 | ricordai | I remembered |
| tu | ricordasti | you remembered |
| lui/lei | ricordò | he/she/it remembered |
| noi | ricordammo | we remembered |
| voi | ricordaste | you (pl.) remembered |
| loro | ricordarono | they remembered |
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 | ricordavo |
| tu | ricordavi |
| lui/lei | ricordava |
| noi | ricordavamo |
| voi | ricordavate |
| loro | ricordavano |
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 | ricorderei | I would remember |
| tu | ricorderesti | you would remember |
| lui/lei | ricorderebbe | he/she/it would remember |
| noi | ricorderemmo | we would remember |
| voi | ricordereste | you (pl.) would remember |
| loro | ricorderebbero | they would remember |
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 | ricorderò | I will remember |
| tu | ricorderai | you will remember |
| lui/lei | ricorderà | he/she/it will remember |
| noi | ricorderemo | we will remember |
| voi | ricorderete | you (pl.) will remember |
| loro | ricorderanno | they will remember |
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 ricordato | I have remembered |
| tu | hai ricordato | you have remembered |
| lui/lei | ha ricordato | he/she/it has remembered |
| noi | abbiamo ricordato | we have remembered |
| voi | avete ricordato | you (pl.) have remembered |
| loro | hanno ricordato | they have remembered |
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 ricordato | I had remembered |
| tu | avevi ricordato | you had remembered |
| lui/lei | aveva ricordato | he/she/it had remembered |
| noi | avevamo ricordato | we had remembered |
| voi | avevate ricordato | you (pl.) had remembered |
| loro | avevano ricordato | they had remembered |
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 ricordato |
| tu | avresti ricordato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe ricordato |
| noi | avremmo ricordato |
| voi | avreste ricordato |
| loro | avrebbero ricordato |
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 ricordato | I will have remembered |
| tu | avrai ricordato | you will have remembered |
| lui/lei | avrà ricordato | he/she/it will have remembered |
| noi | avremo ricordato | we will have remembered |
| voi | avrete ricordato | you (pl.) will have remembered |
| loro | avranno ricordato | they will have remembered |
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 | ricordi |
| tu | ricordi |
| lui/lei | ricordi |
| noi | ricordiamo |
| voi | ricordiate |
| loro | ricordino |
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 | ricordassi |
| tu | ricordassi |
| lui/lei | ricordasse |
| noi | ricordassimo |
| voi | ricordaste |
| loro | ricordassero |
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 | ricorda |
| lui/lei | ricordi |
| noi | ricordiamo |
| voi | ricordate |
| loro | ricordino |
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 ricordare |
| lui/lei | non ricordi |
| noi | non ricordiamo |
| voi | non ricordate |
| loro | non ricordino |