scusare — Italian conjugation
to excuse
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 | scuso | I excuse |
| tu | scusi | you excuse |
| lui/lei | scusa | he/she/it excuses |
| noi | scusiamo | we excuse |
| voi | scusate | you (pl.) excuse |
| loro | scusano | they excuse |
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 | scusai | I excused |
| tu | scusasti | you excused |
| lui/lei | scusò | he/she/it excused |
| noi | scusammo | we excused |
| voi | scusaste | you (pl.) excused |
| loro | scusarono | they excused |
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 | scusavo |
| tu | scusavi |
| lui/lei | scusava |
| noi | scusavamo |
| voi | scusavate |
| loro | scusavano |
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 | scuserei | I would excuse |
| tu | scuseresti | you would excuse |
| lui/lei | scuserebbe | he/she/it would excuse |
| noi | scuseremmo | we would excuse |
| voi | scusereste | you (pl.) would excuse |
| loro | scuserebbero | they would excuse |
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 | scuserò | I will excuse |
| tu | scuserai | you will excuse |
| lui/lei | scuserà | he/she/it will excuse |
| noi | scuseremo | we will excuse |
| voi | scuserete | you (pl.) will excuse |
| loro | scuseranno | they will excuse |
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 scusato | I have excused |
| tu | hai scusato | you have excused |
| lui/lei | ha scusato | he/she/it has excused |
| noi | abbiamo scusato | we have excused |
| voi | avete scusato | you (pl.) have excused |
| loro | hanno scusato | they have excused |
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 scusato | I had excused |
| tu | avevi scusato | you had excused |
| lui/lei | aveva scusato | he/she/it had excused |
| noi | avevamo scusato | we had excused |
| voi | avevate scusato | you (pl.) had excused |
| loro | avevano scusato | they had excused |
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 scusato |
| tu | avresti scusato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe scusato |
| noi | avremmo scusato |
| voi | avreste scusato |
| loro | avrebbero scusato |
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 scusato | I will have excused |
| tu | avrai scusato | you will have excused |
| lui/lei | avrà scusato | he/she/it will have excused |
| noi | avremo scusato | we will have excused |
| voi | avrete scusato | you (pl.) will have excused |
| loro | avranno scusato | they will have excused |
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 | scusi |
| tu | scusi |
| lui/lei | scusi |
| noi | scusiamo |
| voi | scusiate |
| loro | scusino |
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 | scusassi |
| tu | scusassi |
| lui/lei | scusasse |
| noi | scusassimo |
| voi | scusaste |
| loro | scusassero |
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 | scusa |
| lui/lei | scusi |
| noi | scusiamo |
| voi | scusate |
| loro | scusino |
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 scusare |
| lui/lei | non scusi |
| noi | non scusiamo |
| voi | non scusate |
| loro | non scusino |