temporeggiare — Italian conjugation

to procrastinate

Frequency#1388Regular

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
iotemporeggioI procrastinate
tutemporeggiyou procrastinate
lui/leitemporeggiahe/she/it procrastinates
noitemporeggiamowe procrastinate
voitemporeggiateyou (pl.) procrastinate
lorotemporeggianothey procrastinate

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iotemporeggiaiI procrastinated
tutemporeggiastiyou procrastinated
lui/leitemporeggiòhe/she/it procrastinated
noitemporeggiammowe procrastinated
voitemporeggiasteyou (pl.) procrastinated
lorotemporeggiaronothey procrastinated

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
iotemporeggiavo
tutemporeggiavi
lui/leitemporeggiava
noitemporeggiavamo
voitemporeggiavate
lorotemporeggiavano

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
iotemporeggereiI would procrastinate
tutemporeggerestiyou would procrastinate
lui/leitemporeggerebbehe/she/it would procrastinate
noitemporeggeremmowe would procrastinate
voitemporeggeresteyou (pl.) would procrastinate
lorotemporeggerebberothey would procrastinate

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
iotemporeggeròI will procrastinate
tutemporeggeraiyou will procrastinate
lui/leitemporeggeràhe/she/it will procrastinate
noitemporeggeremowe will procrastinate
voitemporeggereteyou (pl.) will procrastinate
lorotemporeggerannothey will procrastinate

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 temporeggiatoI have procrastinated
tuhai temporeggiatoyou have procrastinated
lui/leiha temporeggiatohe/she/it has procrastinated
noiabbiamo temporeggiatowe have procrastinated
voiavete temporeggiatoyou (pl.) have procrastinated
lorohanno temporeggiatothey have procrastinated

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 temporeggiatoI had procrastinated
tuavevi temporeggiatoyou had procrastinated
lui/leiaveva temporeggiatohe/she/it had procrastinated
noiavevamo temporeggiatowe had procrastinated
voiavevate temporeggiatoyou (pl.) had procrastinated
loroavevano temporeggiatothey had procrastinated

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 temporeggiato
tuavresti temporeggiato
lui/leiavrebbe temporeggiato
noiavremmo temporeggiato
voiavreste temporeggiato
loroavrebbero temporeggiato

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 temporeggiatoI will have procrastinated
tuavrai temporeggiatoyou will have procrastinated
lui/leiavrà temporeggiatohe/she/it will have procrastinated
noiavremo temporeggiatowe will have procrastinated
voiavrete temporeggiatoyou (pl.) will have procrastinated
loroavranno temporeggiatothey will have procrastinated

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
iotemporeggi
tutemporeggi
lui/leitemporeggi
noitemporeggiamo
voitemporeggiate
lorotemporeggino

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
iotemporeggiassi
tutemporeggiassi
lui/leitemporeggiasse
noitemporeggiassimo
voitemporeggiaste
lorotemporeggiassero

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
tutemporeggia
lui/leitemporeggi
noitemporeggiamo
voitemporeggiate
lorotemporeggino

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 temporeggiare
lui/leinon temporeggi
noinon temporeggiamo
voinon temporeggiate
loronon temporeggino