supporre — Italian conjugation

to suppose

Frequency#449Irregular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

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
iosuppongoI suppose
tusupponiyou suppose
lui/leisupponehe/she/it supposes
noisupponiamowe suppose
voisupponeteyou (pl.) suppose
lorosuppongonothey suppose

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
iosupposiI supposed
tusupponestiyou supposed
lui/leisupposehe/she/it supposed
noisupponemmowe supposed
voisupponesteyou (pl.) supposed
lorosupposerothey supposed

Imperfect (Imperfetto) Irregular

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
iosupponevo
tusupponevi
lui/leisupponeva
noisupponevamo
voisupponevate
lorosupponevano

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
iosupporreiI would suppose
tusupporrestiyou would suppose
lui/leisupporrebbehe/she/it would suppose
noisupporremmowe would suppose
voisupporresteyou (pl.) would suppose
lorosupporrebberothey would suppose

Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular

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
iosupporròI will suppose
tusupporraiyou will suppose
lui/leisupporràhe/she/it will suppose
noisupporremowe will suppose
voisupporreteyou (pl.) will suppose
lorosupporrannothey will suppose

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 suppostoI have supposed
tuhai suppostoyou have supposed
lui/leiha suppostohe/she/it has supposed
noiabbiamo suppostowe have supposed
voiavete suppostoyou (pl.) have supposed
lorohanno suppostothey have supposed

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 suppostoI had supposed
tuavevi suppostoyou had supposed
lui/leiaveva suppostohe/she/it had supposed
noiavevamo suppostowe had supposed
voiavevate suppostoyou (pl.) had supposed
loroavevano suppostothey had supposed

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 supposto
tuavresti supposto
lui/leiavrebbe supposto
noiavremmo supposto
voiavreste supposto
loroavrebbero supposto

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 suppostoI will have supposed
tuavrai suppostoyou will have supposed
lui/leiavrà suppostohe/she/it will have supposed
noiavremo suppostowe will have supposed
voiavrete suppostoyou (pl.) will have supposed
loroavranno suppostothey will have supposed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular

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
iosupponga
tusupponga
lui/leisupponga
noisupponiamo
voisupponiate
lorosuppongano

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
iosupponessi
tusupponessi
lui/leisupponesse
noisupponessimo
voisupponeste
lorosupponessero

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
tusupponi
lui/leisupponga
noisupponiamo
voisupponete
lorosuppongano

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 supporre
lui/leinon supponga
noinon supponiamo
voinon supponete
loronon suppongano