soffrire — Italian conjugation
to suffer
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 | soffro | I suffer |
| tu | soffri | you suffer |
| lui/lei | soffre | he/she/it suffers |
| noi | soffriamo | we suffer |
| voi | soffrite | you (pl.) suffer |
| loro | soffrono | they suffer |
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 | soffrii | I suffered |
| tu | soffristi | you suffered |
| lui/lei | soffrì | he/she/it suffered |
| noi | soffrimmo | we suffered |
| voi | soffriste | you (pl.) suffered |
| loro | soffrirono | they suffered |
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 | soffrivo |
| tu | soffrivi |
| lui/lei | soffriva |
| noi | soffrivamo |
| voi | soffrivate |
| loro | soffrivano |
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 | soffrirei | I would suffer |
| tu | soffriresti | you would suffer |
| lui/lei | soffrirebbe | he/she/it would suffer |
| noi | soffriremmo | we would suffer |
| voi | soffrireste | you (pl.) would suffer |
| loro | soffrirebbero | they would suffer |
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 | soffrirò | I will suffer |
| tu | soffrirai | you will suffer |
| lui/lei | soffrirà | he/she/it will suffer |
| noi | soffriremo | we will suffer |
| voi | soffrirete | you (pl.) will suffer |
| loro | soffriranno | they will suffer |
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 sofferto | I have suffered |
| tu | hai sofferto | you have suffered |
| lui/lei | ha sofferto | he/she/it has suffered |
| noi | abbiamo sofferto | we have suffered |
| voi | avete sofferto | you (pl.) have suffered |
| loro | hanno sofferto | they have suffered |
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 sofferto | I had suffered |
| tu | avevi sofferto | you had suffered |
| lui/lei | aveva sofferto | he/she/it had suffered |
| noi | avevamo sofferto | we had suffered |
| voi | avevate sofferto | you (pl.) had suffered |
| loro | avevano sofferto | they had suffered |
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 sofferto |
| tu | avresti sofferto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe sofferto |
| noi | avremmo sofferto |
| voi | avreste sofferto |
| loro | avrebbero sofferto |
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 sofferto | I will have suffered |
| tu | avrai sofferto | you will have suffered |
| lui/lei | avrà sofferto | he/she/it will have suffered |
| noi | avremo sofferto | we will have suffered |
| voi | avrete sofferto | you (pl.) will have suffered |
| loro | avranno sofferto | they will have suffered |
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 | soffra |
| tu | soffra |
| lui/lei | soffra |
| noi | soffriamo |
| voi | soffriate |
| loro | soffrano |
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 | soffrissi |
| tu | soffrissi |
| lui/lei | soffrisse |
| noi | soffrissimo |
| voi | soffriste |
| loro | soffrissero |
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 | soffri |
| lui/lei | soffra |
| noi | soffriamo |
| voi | soffrite |
| loro | soffrano |
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 soffrire |
| lui/lei | non soffra |
| noi | non soffriamo |
| voi | non soffrite |
| loro | non soffrano |