tentare — Italian conjugation
to attempt
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 | tento | I attempt |
| tu | tenti | you attempt |
| lui/lei | tenta | he/she/it attempts |
| noi | tentiamo | we attempt |
| voi | tentate | you (pl.) attempt |
| loro | tentano | they attempt |
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 | tentai | I attempted |
| tu | tentasti | you attempted |
| lui/lei | tentò | he/she/it attempted |
| noi | tentammo | we attempted |
| voi | tentaste | you (pl.) attempted |
| loro | tentarono | they attempted |
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 | tentavo |
| tu | tentavi |
| lui/lei | tentava |
| noi | tentavamo |
| voi | tentavate |
| loro | tentavano |
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 | tenterei | I would attempt |
| tu | tenteresti | you would attempt |
| lui/lei | tenterebbe | he/she/it would attempt |
| noi | tenteremmo | we would attempt |
| voi | tentereste | you (pl.) would attempt |
| loro | tenterebbero | they would attempt |
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 | tenterò | I will attempt |
| tu | tenterai | you will attempt |
| lui/lei | tenterà | he/she/it will attempt |
| noi | tenteremo | we will attempt |
| voi | tenterete | you (pl.) will attempt |
| loro | tenteranno | they will attempt |
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 tentato | I have attempted |
| tu | hai tentato | you have attempted |
| lui/lei | ha tentato | he/she/it has attempted |
| noi | abbiamo tentato | we have attempted |
| voi | avete tentato | you (pl.) have attempted |
| loro | hanno tentato | they have attempted |
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 tentato | I had attempted |
| tu | avevi tentato | you had attempted |
| lui/lei | aveva tentato | he/she/it had attempted |
| noi | avevamo tentato | we had attempted |
| voi | avevate tentato | you (pl.) had attempted |
| loro | avevano tentato | they had attempted |
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 tentato |
| tu | avresti tentato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe tentato |
| noi | avremmo tentato |
| voi | avreste tentato |
| loro | avrebbero tentato |
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 tentato | I will have attempted |
| tu | avrai tentato | you will have attempted |
| lui/lei | avrà tentato | he/she/it will have attempted |
| noi | avremo tentato | we will have attempted |
| voi | avrete tentato | you (pl.) will have attempted |
| loro | avranno tentato | they will have attempted |
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 | tenti |
| tu | tenti |
| lui/lei | tenti |
| noi | tentiamo |
| voi | tentiate |
| loro | tentino |
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 | tentassi |
| tu | tentassi |
| lui/lei | tentasse |
| noi | tentassimo |
| voi | tentaste |
| loro | tentassero |
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 | tenta |
| lui/lei | tenti |
| noi | tentiamo |
| voi | tentate |
| loro | tentino |
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 tentare |
| lui/lei | non tenti |
| noi | non tentiamo |
| voi | non tentate |
| loro | non tentino |