scoprire — Italian conjugation

to discover

Frequency#281Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioscoproI discover
tuscopriyou discover
lui/leiscoprehe/she/it discovers
noiscopriamowe discover
voiscopriteyou (pl.) discover
loroscopronothey discover

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioscopriiI discovered
tuscopristiyou discovered
lui/leiscoprìhe/she/it discovered
noiscoprimmowe discovered
voiscopristeyou (pl.) discovered
loroscoprironothey discovered

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.

PronounItalian
ioscoprivo
tuscoprivi
lui/leiscopriva
noiscoprivamo
voiscoprivate
loroscoprivano

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?

PronounItalianEnglish
ioscoprireiI would discover
tuscoprirestiyou would discover
lui/leiscoprirebbehe/she/it would discover
noiscopriremmowe would discover
voiscopriresteyou (pl.) would discover
loroscoprirebberothey would discover

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioscopriròI will discover
tuscopriraiyou will discover
lui/leiscopriràhe/she/it will discover
noiscopriremowe will discover
voiscoprireteyou (pl.) will discover
loroscoprirannothey will discover

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho scopertoI have discovered
tuhai scopertoyou have discovered
lui/leiha scopertohe/she/it has discovered
noiabbiamo scopertowe have discovered
voiavete scopertoyou (pl.) have discovered
lorohanno scopertothey have discovered

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo scopertoI had discovered
tuavevi scopertoyou had discovered
lui/leiaveva scopertohe/she/it had discovered
noiavevamo scopertowe had discovered
voiavevate scopertoyou (pl.) had discovered
loroavevano scopertothey had discovered

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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei scoperto
tuavresti scoperto
lui/leiavrebbe scoperto
noiavremmo scoperto
voiavreste scoperto
loroavrebbero scoperto

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò scopertoI will have discovered
tuavrai scopertoyou will have discovered
lui/leiavrà scopertohe/she/it will have discovered
noiavremo scopertowe will have discovered
voiavrete scopertoyou (pl.) will have discovered
loroavranno scopertothey will have discovered

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.

PronounItalian
ioscopra
tuscopra
lui/leiscopra
noiscopriamo
voiscopriate
loroscoprano

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.

PronounItalian
ioscoprissi
tuscoprissi
lui/leiscoprisse
noiscoprissimo
voiscopriste
loroscoprissero

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.

PronounItalian
tuscopri
lui/leiscopra
noiscopriamo
voiscoprite
loroscoprano

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.

PronounItalian
tunon scoprire
lui/leinon scopra
noinon scopriamo
voinon scoprite
loronon scoprano