spiccare — Italian conjugation
to stand out
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 | spicco | I stand out |
| tu | spicchi | you stand out |
| lui/lei | spicca | he/she/it stands out |
| noi | spicchiamo | we stand out |
| voi | spiccate | you (pl.) stand out |
| loro | spiccano | they stand out |
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 | spiccai | I stood out |
| tu | spiccasti | you stood out |
| lui/lei | spiccò | he/she/it stood out |
| noi | spiccammo | we stood out |
| voi | spiccaste | you (pl.) stood out |
| loro | spiccarono | they stood out |
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 | spiccavo |
| tu | spiccavi |
| lui/lei | spiccava |
| noi | spiccavamo |
| voi | spiccavate |
| loro | spiccavano |
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 | spiccherei | I would stand out |
| tu | spiccheresti | you would stand out |
| lui/lei | spiccherebbe | he/she/it would stand out |
| noi | spiccheremmo | we would stand out |
| voi | spicchereste | you (pl.) would stand out |
| loro | spiccherebbero | they would stand out |
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 | spiccherò | I will stand out |
| tu | spiccherai | you will stand out |
| lui/lei | spiccherà | he/she/it will stand out |
| noi | spiccheremo | we will stand out |
| voi | spiccherete | you (pl.) will stand out |
| loro | spiccheranno | they will stand out |
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 spiccato | I have stood out |
| tu | hai spiccato | you have stood out |
| lui/lei | ha spiccato | he/she/it has stood out |
| noi | abbiamo spiccato | we have stood out |
| voi | avete spiccato | you (pl.) have stood out |
| loro | hanno spiccato | they have stood out |
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 spiccato | I had stood out |
| tu | avevi spiccato | you had stood out |
| lui/lei | aveva spiccato | he/she/it had stood out |
| noi | avevamo spiccato | we had stood out |
| voi | avevate spiccato | you (pl.) had stood out |
| loro | avevano spiccato | they had stood out |
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 spiccato |
| tu | avresti spiccato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe spiccato |
| noi | avremmo spiccato |
| voi | avreste spiccato |
| loro | avrebbero spiccato |
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 spiccato | I will have stood out |
| tu | avrai spiccato | you will have stood out |
| lui/lei | avrà spiccato | he/she/it will have stood out |
| noi | avremo spiccato | we will have stood out |
| voi | avrete spiccato | you (pl.) will have stood out |
| loro | avranno spiccato | they will have stood out |
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 | spicchi |
| tu | spicchi |
| lui/lei | spicchi |
| noi | spicchiamo |
| voi | spicchiate |
| loro | spicchino |
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 | spiccassi |
| tu | spiccassi |
| lui/lei | spiccasse |
| noi | spiccassimo |
| voi | spiccaste |
| loro | spiccassero |
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 | spicca |
| lui/lei | spicchi |
| noi | spicchiamo |
| voi | spiccate |
| loro | spicchino |
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 spiccare |
| lui/lei | non spicchi |
| noi | non spicchiamo |
| voi | non spiccate |
| loro | non spicchino |