sorridere — Italian conjugation

to smile

Frequency#130Irregular

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
iosorridoI smile
tusorridiyou smile
lui/leisorridehe/she/it smiles
noisorridiamowe smile
voisorrideteyou (pl.) smile
lorosorridonothey smile

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
iosorrisiI smiled
tusorridestiyou smiled
lui/leisorrisehe/she/it smiled
noisorridemmowe smiled
voisorridesteyou (pl.) smiled
lorosorriserothey smiled

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
iosorridevo
tusorridevi
lui/leisorrideva
noisorridevamo
voisorridevate
lorosorridevano

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
iosorridereiI would smile
tusorriderestiyou would smile
lui/leisorriderebbehe/she/it would smile
noisorrideremmowe would smile
voisorrideresteyou (pl.) would smile
lorosorriderebberothey would smile

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
iosorrideròI will smile
tusorrideraiyou will smile
lui/leisorrideràhe/she/it will smile
noisorrideremowe will smile
voisorridereteyou (pl.) will smile
lorosorriderannothey will smile

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 sorrisoI have smiled
tuhai sorrisoyou have smiled
lui/leiha sorrisohe/she/it has smiled
noiabbiamo sorrisowe have smiled
voiavete sorrisoyou (pl.) have smiled
lorohanno sorrisothey have smiled

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 sorrisoI had smiled
tuavevi sorrisoyou had smiled
lui/leiaveva sorrisohe/she/it had smiled
noiavevamo sorrisowe had smiled
voiavevate sorrisoyou (pl.) had smiled
loroavevano sorrisothey had smiled

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 sorriso
tuavresti sorriso
lui/leiavrebbe sorriso
noiavremmo sorriso
voiavreste sorriso
loroavrebbero sorriso

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 sorrisoI will have smiled
tuavrai sorrisoyou will have smiled
lui/leiavrà sorrisohe/she/it will have smiled
noiavremo sorrisowe will have smiled
voiavrete sorrisoyou (pl.) will have smiled
loroavranno sorrisothey will have smiled

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
iosorrida
tusorrida
lui/leisorrida
noisorridiamo
voisorridiate
lorosorridano

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
iosorridessi
tusorridessi
lui/leisorridesse
noisorridessimo
voisorrideste
lorosorridessero

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
tusorridi
lui/leisorrida
noisorridiamo
voisorridete
lorosorridano

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 sorridere
lui/leinon sorrida
noinon sorridiamo
voinon sorridete
loronon sorridano