stringere — Italian conjugation

to tighten

Frequency#197Irregular

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
iostringoI tighten
tustringiyou tighten
lui/leistringehe/she/it tightens
noistringiamowe tighten
voistringeteyou (pl.) tighten
lorostringonothey tighten

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
iostrinsiI tightened
tustringestiyou tightened
lui/leistrinsehe/she/it tightened
noistringemmowe tightened
voistringesteyou (pl.) tightened
lorostrinserothey tightened

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
iostringevo
tustringevi
lui/leistringeva
noistringevamo
voistringevate
lorostringevano

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
iostringereiI would tighten
tustringerestiyou would tighten
lui/leistringerebbehe/she/it would tighten
noistringeremmowe would tighten
voistringeresteyou (pl.) would tighten
lorostringerebberothey would tighten

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
iostringeròI will tighten
tustringeraiyou will tighten
lui/leistringeràhe/she/it will tighten
noistringeremowe will tighten
voistringereteyou (pl.) will tighten
lorostringerannothey will tighten

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 strettoI have tightened
tuhai strettoyou have tightened
lui/leiha strettohe/she/it has tightened
noiabbiamo strettowe have tightened
voiavete strettoyou (pl.) have tightened
lorohanno strettothey have tightened

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 strettoI had tightened
tuavevi strettoyou had tightened
lui/leiaveva strettohe/she/it had tightened
noiavevamo strettowe had tightened
voiavevate strettoyou (pl.) had tightened
loroavevano strettothey had tightened

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 stretto
tuavresti stretto
lui/leiavrebbe stretto
noiavremmo stretto
voiavreste stretto
loroavrebbero stretto

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 strettoI will have tightened
tuavrai strettoyou will have tightened
lui/leiavrà strettohe/she/it will have tightened
noiavremo strettowe will have tightened
voiavrete strettoyou (pl.) will have tightened
loroavranno strettothey will have tightened

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
iostringa
tustringa
lui/leistringa
noistringiamo
voistringiate
lorostringano

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
iostringessi
tustringessi
lui/leistringesse
noistringessimo
voistringeste
lorostringessero

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
tustringi
lui/leistringa
noistringiamo
voistringete
lorostringano

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 stringere
lui/leinon stringa
noinon stringiamo
voinon stringete
loronon stringano