ritardare — Italian conjugation
to delay, to defer, to hold up
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 | ritardo | I delay |
| tu | ritardi | you delay |
| lui/lei | ritarda | he/she/it delays |
| noi | ritardiamo | we delay |
| voi | ritardate | you (pl.) delay |
| loro | ritardano | they delay |
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 | ritardai | I delayed |
| tu | ritardasti | you delayed |
| lui/lei | ritardò | he/she/it delayed |
| noi | ritardammo | we delayed |
| voi | ritardaste | you (pl.) delayed |
| loro | ritardarono | they delayed |
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 | ritardavo |
| tu | ritardavi |
| lui/lei | ritardava |
| noi | ritardavamo |
| voi | ritardavate |
| loro | ritardavano |
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 | ritarderei | I would delay |
| tu | ritarderesti | you would delay |
| lui/lei | ritarderebbe | he/she/it would delay |
| noi | ritarderemmo | we would delay |
| voi | ritardereste | you (pl.) would delay |
| loro | ritarderebbero | they would delay |
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 | ritarderò | I will delay |
| tu | ritarderai | you will delay |
| lui/lei | ritarderà | he/she/it will delay |
| noi | ritarderemo | we will delay |
| voi | ritarderete | you (pl.) will delay |
| loro | ritarderanno | they will delay |
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 ritardato | I have delayed |
| tu | hai ritardato | you have delayed |
| lui/lei | ha ritardato | he/she/it has delayed |
| noi | abbiamo ritardato | we have delayed |
| voi | avete ritardato | you (pl.) have delayed |
| loro | hanno ritardato | they have delayed |
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 ritardato | I had delayed |
| tu | avevi ritardato | you had delayed |
| lui/lei | aveva ritardato | he/she/it had delayed |
| noi | avevamo ritardato | we had delayed |
| voi | avevate ritardato | you (pl.) had delayed |
| loro | avevano ritardato | they had delayed |
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 ritardato |
| tu | avresti ritardato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe ritardato |
| noi | avremmo ritardato |
| voi | avreste ritardato |
| loro | avrebbero ritardato |
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 ritardato | I will have delayed |
| tu | avrai ritardato | you will have delayed |
| lui/lei | avrà ritardato | he/she/it will have delayed |
| noi | avremo ritardato | we will have delayed |
| voi | avrete ritardato | you (pl.) will have delayed |
| loro | avranno ritardato | they will have delayed |
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 | ritardi |
| tu | ritardi |
| lui/lei | ritardi |
| noi | ritardiamo |
| voi | ritardiate |
| loro | ritardino |
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 | ritardassi |
| tu | ritardassi |
| lui/lei | ritardasse |
| noi | ritardassimo |
| voi | ritardaste |
| loro | ritardassero |
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 | ritarda |
| lui/lei | ritardi |
| noi | ritardiamo |
| voi | ritardate |
| loro | ritardino |
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 ritardare |
| lui/lei | non ritardi |
| noi | non ritardiamo |
| voi | non ritardate |
| loro | non ritardino |