sgattaiolare — Italian conjugation
to sneak away
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 | sgattaiolo | I sneak away |
| tu | sgattaioli | you sneak away |
| lui/lei | sgattaiola | he/she/it sneaks away |
| noi | sgattaioliamo | we sneak away |
| voi | sgattaiolate | you (pl.) sneak away |
| loro | sgattaiolano | they sneak away |
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 | sgattaiolai | I sneaked away |
| tu | sgattaiolasti | you sneaked away |
| lui/lei | sgattaiolò | he/she/it sneaked away |
| noi | sgattaiolammo | we sneaked away |
| voi | sgattaiolaste | you (pl.) sneaked away |
| loro | sgattaiolarono | they sneaked away |
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 | sgattaiolavo |
| tu | sgattaiolavi |
| lui/lei | sgattaiolava |
| noi | sgattaiolavamo |
| voi | sgattaiolavate |
| loro | sgattaiolavano |
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 | sgattaiolerei | I would sneak away |
| tu | sgattaioleresti | you would sneak away |
| lui/lei | sgattaiolerebbe | he/she/it would sneak away |
| noi | sgattaioleremmo | we would sneak away |
| voi | sgattaiolereste | you (pl.) would sneak away |
| loro | sgattaiolerebbero | they would sneak away |
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 | sgattaiolerò | I will sneak away |
| tu | sgattaiolerai | you will sneak away |
| lui/lei | sgattaiolerà | he/she/it will sneak away |
| noi | sgattaioleremo | we will sneak away |
| voi | sgattaiolerete | you (pl.) will sneak away |
| loro | sgattaioleranno | they will sneak away |
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 | sono sgattaiolato/a | I have sneaked away |
| tu | sei sgattaiolato/a | you have sneaked away |
| lui/lei | è sgattaiolato/a | he/she/it has sneaked away |
| noi | siamo sgattaiolati/e | we have sneaked away |
| voi | siete sgattaiolati/e | you (pl.) have sneaked away |
| loro | sono sgattaiolati/e | they have sneaked away |
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 | ero sgattaiolato/a | I had sneaked away |
| tu | eri sgattaiolato/a | you had sneaked away |
| lui/lei | era sgattaiolato/a | he/she/it had sneaked away |
| noi | eravamo sgattaiolati/e | we had sneaked away |
| voi | eravate sgattaiolati/e | you (pl.) had sneaked away |
| loro | erano sgattaiolati/e | they had sneaked away |
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 | sarei sgattaiolato/a |
| tu | saresti sgattaiolato/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe sgattaiolato/a |
| noi | saremmo sgattaiolati/e |
| voi | sareste sgattaiolati/e |
| loro | sarebbero sgattaiolati/e |
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 | sarò sgattaiolato/a | I will have sneaked away |
| tu | sarai sgattaiolato/a | you will have sneaked away |
| lui/lei | sarà sgattaiolato/a | he/she/it will have sneaked away |
| noi | saremo sgattaiolati/e | we will have sneaked away |
| voi | sarete sgattaiolati/e | you (pl.) will have sneaked away |
| loro | saranno sgattaiolati/e | they will have sneaked away |
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 | sgattaioli |
| tu | sgattaioli |
| lui/lei | sgattaioli |
| noi | sgattaioliamo |
| voi | sgattaioliate |
| loro | sgattaiolino |
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 | sgattaiolassi |
| tu | sgattaiolassi |
| lui/lei | sgattaiolasse |
| noi | sgattaiolassimo |
| voi | sgattaiolaste |
| loro | sgattaiolassero |
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 | sgattaiola |
| lui/lei | sgattaioli |
| noi | sgattaioliamo |
| voi | sgattaiolate |
| loro | sgattaiolino |
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 sgattaiolare |
| lui/lei | non sgattaioli |
| noi | non sgattaioliamo |
| voi | non sgattaiolate |
| loro | non sgattaiolino |