tacere — Italian conjugation
to be silent
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | taccio | I am silent |
| tu | taci | you are silent |
| lui/lei | tace | he/she/it is silent |
| noi | tacciamo | we are silent |
| voi | tacete | you (pl.) are silent |
| loro | tacciono | they are silent |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | tacqui | I was silent |
| tu | tacesti | you were silent |
| lui/lei | tacque | he/she/it was silent |
| noi | tacemmo | we were silent |
| voi | taceste | you (pl.) were silent |
| loro | tacquero | they were silent |
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 | tacevo |
| tu | tacevi |
| lui/lei | taceva |
| noi | tacevamo |
| voi | tacevate |
| loro | tacevano |
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 | tacerei | I would be silent |
| tu | taceresti | you would be silent |
| lui/lei | tacerebbe | he/she/it would be silent |
| noi | taceremmo | we would be silent |
| voi | tacereste | you (pl.) would be silent |
| loro | tacerebbero | they would be silent |
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 | tacerò | I will be silent |
| tu | tacerai | you will be silent |
| lui/lei | tacerà | he/she/it will be silent |
| noi | taceremo | we will be silent |
| voi | tacerete | you (pl.) will be silent |
| loro | taceranno | they will be silent |
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 taciuto | I have been silent |
| tu | hai taciuto | you have been silent |
| lui/lei | ha taciuto | he/she/it has been silent |
| noi | abbiamo taciuto | we have been silent |
| voi | avete taciuto | you (pl.) have been silent |
| loro | hanno taciuto | they have been silent |
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 taciuto | I had been silent |
| tu | avevi taciuto | you had been silent |
| lui/lei | aveva taciuto | he/she/it had been silent |
| noi | avevamo taciuto | we had been silent |
| voi | avevate taciuto | you (pl.) had been silent |
| loro | avevano taciuto | they had been silent |
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 taciuto |
| tu | avresti taciuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe taciuto |
| noi | avremmo taciuto |
| voi | avreste taciuto |
| loro | avrebbero taciuto |
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 taciuto | I will have been silent |
| tu | avrai taciuto | you will have been silent |
| lui/lei | avrà taciuto | he/she/it will have been silent |
| noi | avremo taciuto | we will have been silent |
| voi | avrete taciuto | you (pl.) will have been silent |
| loro | avranno taciuto | they will have been silent |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | taccia |
| tu | taccia |
| lui/lei | taccia |
| noi | tacciamo |
| voi | tacciate |
| loro | tacciano |
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 | tacessi |
| tu | tacessi |
| lui/lei | tacesse |
| noi | tacessimo |
| voi | taceste |
| loro | tacessero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular
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 | taci |
| lui/lei | taccia |
| noi | tacciamo |
| voi | tacete |
| loro | tacciano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular
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 tacere |
| lui/lei | non taccia |
| noi | non tacciamo |
| voi | non tacete |
| loro | non tacciano |