ritenere — Italian conjugation
to believe, to consider
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ritengo | I believe |
| tu | ritieni | you believe |
| lui/lei | ritiene | he/she/it believes |
| noi | riteniamo | we believe |
| voi | ritenete | you (pl.) believe |
| loro | ritengono | they believe |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Irregular
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 | ritenni | I believed |
| tu | ritenesti | you believed |
| lui/lei | ritenne | he/she/it believed |
| noi | ritenemmo | we believed |
| voi | riteneste | you (pl.) believed |
| loro | ritennero | they believed |
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 | ritenevo |
| tu | ritenevi |
| lui/lei | riteneva |
| noi | ritenevamo |
| voi | ritenevate |
| loro | ritenevano |
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 | riterrei | I would believe |
| tu | riterresti | you would believe |
| lui/lei | riterrebbe | he/she/it would believe |
| noi | riterremmo | we would believe |
| voi | riterreste | you (pl.) would believe |
| loro | riterrebbero | they would believe |
Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular
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 | riterrò | I will believe |
| tu | riterrai | you will believe |
| lui/lei | riterrà | he/she/it will believe |
| noi | riterremo | we will believe |
| voi | riterrete | you (pl.) will believe |
| loro | riterranno | they will believe |
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 ritenuto | I have believed |
| tu | hai ritenuto | you have believed |
| lui/lei | ha ritenuto | he/she/it has believed |
| noi | abbiamo ritenuto | we have believed |
| voi | avete ritenuto | you (pl.) have believed |
| loro | hanno ritenuto | they have believed |
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 ritenuto | I had believed |
| tu | avevi ritenuto | you had believed |
| lui/lei | aveva ritenuto | he/she/it had believed |
| noi | avevamo ritenuto | we had believed |
| voi | avevate ritenuto | you (pl.) had believed |
| loro | avevano ritenuto | they had believed |
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 ritenuto |
| tu | avresti ritenuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe ritenuto |
| noi | avremmo ritenuto |
| voi | avreste ritenuto |
| loro | avrebbero ritenuto |
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 ritenuto | I will have believed |
| tu | avrai ritenuto | you will have believed |
| lui/lei | avrà ritenuto | he/she/it will have believed |
| noi | avremo ritenuto | we will have believed |
| voi | avrete ritenuto | you (pl.) will have believed |
| loro | avranno ritenuto | they will have believed |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | ritenga |
| tu | ritenga |
| lui/lei | ritenga |
| noi | riteniamo |
| voi | riteniate |
| loro | ritengano |
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 | ritenessi |
| tu | ritenessi |
| lui/lei | ritenesse |
| noi | ritenessimo |
| voi | riteneste |
| loro | ritenessero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular
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 | ritieni |
| lui/lei | ritenga |
| noi | riteniamo |
| voi | ritenete |
| loro | ritengano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular
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 ritenere |
| lui/lei | non ritenga |
| noi | non riteniamo |
| voi | non ritenete |
| loro | non ritengano |