svolgere — Italian conjugation

to carry out

Frequency#348Irregular

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
iosvolgoI carry out
tusvolgiyou carry out
lui/leisvolgehe/she/it carries out
noisvolgiamowe carry out
voisvolgeteyou (pl.) carry out
lorosvolgonothey carry out

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
iosvolsiI carried out
tusvolgestiyou carried out
lui/leisvolsehe/she/it carried out
noisvolgemmowe carried out
voisvolgesteyou (pl.) carried out
lorosvolserothey carried 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.

PronounItalian
iosvolgevo
tusvolgevi
lui/leisvolgeva
noisvolgevamo
voisvolgevate
lorosvolgevano

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
iosvolgereiI would carry out
tusvolgerestiyou would carry out
lui/leisvolgerebbehe/she/it would carry out
noisvolgeremmowe would carry out
voisvolgeresteyou (pl.) would carry out
lorosvolgerebberothey would carry 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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iosvolgeròI will carry out
tusvolgeraiyou will carry out
lui/leisvolgeràhe/she/it will carry out
noisvolgeremowe will carry out
voisvolgereteyou (pl.) will carry out
lorosvolgerannothey will carry 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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho svoltoI have carried out
tuhai svoltoyou have carried out
lui/leiha svoltohe/she/it has carried out
noiabbiamo svoltowe have carried out
voiavete svoltoyou (pl.) have carried out
lorohanno svoltothey have carried 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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo svoltoI had carried out
tuavevi svoltoyou had carried out
lui/leiaveva svoltohe/she/it had carried out
noiavevamo svoltowe had carried out
voiavevate svoltoyou (pl.) had carried out
loroavevano svoltothey had carried 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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei svolto
tuavresti svolto
lui/leiavrebbe svolto
noiavremmo svolto
voiavreste svolto
loroavrebbero svolto

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 svoltoI will have carried out
tuavrai svoltoyou will have carried out
lui/leiavrà svoltohe/she/it will have carried out
noiavremo svoltowe will have carried out
voiavrete svoltoyou (pl.) will have carried out
loroavranno svoltothey will have carried 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.

PronounItalian
iosvolga
tusvolga
lui/leisvolga
noisvolgiamo
voisvolgiate
lorosvolgano

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
iosvolgessi
tusvolgessi
lui/leisvolgesse
noisvolgessimo
voisvolgeste
lorosvolgessero

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
tusvolgi
lui/leisvolga
noisvolgiamo
voisvolgete
lorosvolgano

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 svolgere
lui/leinon svolga
noinon svolgiamo
voinon svolgete
loronon svolgano