tenere — Italian conjugation
to hold
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 | tengo | I hold |
| tu | tieni | you hold |
| lui/lei | tiene | he/she/it holds |
| noi | teniamo | we hold |
| voi | tenete | you (pl.) hold |
| loro | tengono | they hold |
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 | tenni | I held |
| tu | tenesti | you held |
| lui/lei | tenne | he/she/it held |
| noi | tenemmo | we held |
| voi | teneste | you (pl.) held |
| loro | tennero | they held |
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 | tenevo |
| tu | tenevi |
| lui/lei | teneva |
| noi | tenevamo |
| voi | tenevate |
| loro | tenevano |
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 | terrei | I would hold |
| tu | terresti | you would hold |
| lui/lei | terrebbe | he/she/it would hold |
| noi | terremmo | we would hold |
| voi | terreste | you (pl.) would hold |
| loro | terrebbero | they would hold |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | terrò | I will hold |
| tu | terrai | you will hold |
| lui/lei | terrà | he/she/it will hold |
| noi | terremo | we will hold |
| voi | terrete | you (pl.) will hold |
| loro | terranno | they will hold |
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 tenuto | I have held |
| tu | hai tenuto | you have held |
| lui/lei | ha tenuto | he/she/it has held |
| noi | abbiamo tenuto | we have held |
| voi | avete tenuto | you (pl.) have held |
| loro | hanno tenuto | they have held |
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 tenuto | I had held |
| tu | avevi tenuto | you had held |
| lui/lei | aveva tenuto | he/she/it had held |
| noi | avevamo tenuto | we had held |
| voi | avevate tenuto | you (pl.) had held |
| loro | avevano tenuto | they had held |
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 tenuto |
| tu | avresti tenuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe tenuto |
| noi | avremmo tenuto |
| voi | avreste tenuto |
| loro | avrebbero tenuto |
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 tenuto | I will have held |
| tu | avrai tenuto | you will have held |
| lui/lei | avrà tenuto | he/she/it will have held |
| noi | avremo tenuto | we will have held |
| voi | avrete tenuto | you (pl.) will have held |
| loro | avranno tenuto | they will have held |
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 | tenga |
| tu | tenga |
| lui/lei | tenga |
| noi | teniamo |
| voi | teniate |
| loro | tengano |
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 | tenessi |
| tu | tenessi |
| lui/lei | tenesse |
| noi | tenessimo |
| voi | teneste |
| loro | tenessero |
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 | tieni |
| lui/lei | tenga |
| noi | teniamo |
| voi | tenete |
| loro | tengano |
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 tenere |
| lui/lei | non tenga |
| noi | non teniamo |
| voi | non tenete |
| loro | non tengano |