sfamare — Italian conjugation

to feed

Frequency#1519Regular

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
iosfamoI feed
tusfamiyou feed
lui/leisfamahe/she/it feeds
noisfamiamowe feed
voisfamateyou (pl.) feed
lorosfamanothey feed

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iosfamaiI fed
tusfamastiyou fed
lui/leisfamòhe/she/it fed
noisfamammowe fed
voisfamasteyou (pl.) fed
lorosfamaronothey fed

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
iosfamavo
tusfamavi
lui/leisfamava
noisfamavamo
voisfamavate
lorosfamavano

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
iosfamereiI would feed
tusfamerestiyou would feed
lui/leisfamerebbehe/she/it would feed
noisfameremmowe would feed
voisfameresteyou (pl.) would feed
lorosfamerebberothey would feed

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
iosfameròI will feed
tusfameraiyou will feed
lui/leisfameràhe/she/it will feed
noisfameremowe will feed
voisfamereteyou (pl.) will feed
lorosfamerannothey will feed

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 sfamatoI have fed
tuhai sfamatoyou have fed
lui/leiha sfamatohe/she/it has fed
noiabbiamo sfamatowe have fed
voiavete sfamatoyou (pl.) have fed
lorohanno sfamatothey have fed

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 sfamatoI had fed
tuavevi sfamatoyou had fed
lui/leiaveva sfamatohe/she/it had fed
noiavevamo sfamatowe had fed
voiavevate sfamatoyou (pl.) had fed
loroavevano sfamatothey had fed

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 sfamato
tuavresti sfamato
lui/leiavrebbe sfamato
noiavremmo sfamato
voiavreste sfamato
loroavrebbero sfamato

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 sfamatoI will have fed
tuavrai sfamatoyou will have fed
lui/leiavrà sfamatohe/she/it will have fed
noiavremo sfamatowe will have fed
voiavrete sfamatoyou (pl.) will have fed
loroavranno sfamatothey will have fed

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
iosfami
tusfami
lui/leisfami
noisfamiamo
voisfamiate
lorosfamino

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
iosfamassi
tusfamassi
lui/leisfamasse
noisfamassimo
voisfamaste
lorosfamassero

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
tusfama
lui/leisfami
noisfamiamo
voisfamate
lorosfamino

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 sfamare
lui/leinon sfami
noinon sfamiamo
voinon sfamate
loronon sfamino