telefonare — Italian conjugation
to telephone
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 | telefono | I telephone |
| tu | telefoni | you telephone |
| lui/lei | telefona | he/she/it telephones |
| noi | telefoniamo | we telephone |
| voi | telefonate | you (pl.) telephone |
| loro | telefonano | they telephone |
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 | telefonai | I telephoned |
| tu | telefonasti | you telephoned |
| lui/lei | telefonò | he/she/it telephoned |
| noi | telefonammo | we telephoned |
| voi | telefonaste | you (pl.) telephoned |
| loro | telefonarono | they telephoned |
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 | telefonavo |
| tu | telefonavi |
| lui/lei | telefonava |
| noi | telefonavamo |
| voi | telefonavate |
| loro | telefonavano |
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 | telefonerei | I would telephone |
| tu | telefoneresti | you would telephone |
| lui/lei | telefonerebbe | he/she/it would telephone |
| noi | telefoneremmo | we would telephone |
| voi | telefonereste | you (pl.) would telephone |
| loro | telefonerebbero | they would telephone |
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 | telefonerò | I will telephone |
| tu | telefonerai | you will telephone |
| lui/lei | telefonerà | he/she/it will telephone |
| noi | telefoneremo | we will telephone |
| voi | telefonerete | you (pl.) will telephone |
| loro | telefoneranno | they will telephone |
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 telefonato | I have telephoned |
| tu | hai telefonato | you have telephoned |
| lui/lei | ha telefonato | he/she/it has telephoned |
| noi | abbiamo telefonato | we have telephoned |
| voi | avete telefonato | you (pl.) have telephoned |
| loro | hanno telefonato | they have telephoned |
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 telefonato | I had telephoned |
| tu | avevi telefonato | you had telephoned |
| lui/lei | aveva telefonato | he/she/it had telephoned |
| noi | avevamo telefonato | we had telephoned |
| voi | avevate telefonato | you (pl.) had telephoned |
| loro | avevano telefonato | they had telephoned |
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 telefonato |
| tu | avresti telefonato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe telefonato |
| noi | avremmo telefonato |
| voi | avreste telefonato |
| loro | avrebbero telefonato |
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 telefonato | I will have telephoned |
| tu | avrai telefonato | you will have telephoned |
| lui/lei | avrà telefonato | he/she/it will have telephoned |
| noi | avremo telefonato | we will have telephoned |
| voi | avrete telefonato | you (pl.) will have telephoned |
| loro | avranno telefonato | they will have telephoned |
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 | telefoni |
| tu | telefoni |
| lui/lei | telefoni |
| noi | telefoniamo |
| voi | telefoniate |
| loro | telefonino |
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 | telefonassi |
| tu | telefonassi |
| lui/lei | telefonasse |
| noi | telefonassimo |
| voi | telefonaste |
| loro | telefonassero |
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 | telefona |
| lui/lei | telefoni |
| noi | telefoniamo |
| voi | telefonate |
| loro | telefonino |
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 telefonare |
| lui/lei | non telefoni |
| noi | non telefoniamo |
| voi | non telefonate |
| loro | non telefonino |