testare — Italian conjugation

to test

Frequency#224Regular

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
iotestoI test
tutestiyou test
lui/leitestahe/she/it tests
noitestiamowe test
voitestateyou (pl.) test
lorotestanothey test

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
iotestaiI tested
tutestastiyou tested
lui/leitestòhe/she/it tested
noitestammowe tested
voitestasteyou (pl.) tested
lorotestaronothey tested

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
iotestavo
tutestavi
lui/leitestava
noitestavamo
voitestavate
lorotestavano

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
iotestereiI would test
tutesterestiyou would test
lui/leitesterebbehe/she/it would test
noitesteremmowe would test
voitesteresteyou (pl.) would test
lorotesterebberothey would test

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
iotesteròI will test
tutesteraiyou will test
lui/leitesteràhe/she/it will test
noitesteremowe will test
voitestereteyou (pl.) will test
lorotesterannothey will test

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 testatoI have tested
tuhai testatoyou have tested
lui/leiha testatohe/she/it has tested
noiabbiamo testatowe have tested
voiavete testatoyou (pl.) have tested
lorohanno testatothey have tested

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 testatoI had tested
tuavevi testatoyou had tested
lui/leiaveva testatohe/she/it had tested
noiavevamo testatowe had tested
voiavevate testatoyou (pl.) had tested
loroavevano testatothey had tested

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 testato
tuavresti testato
lui/leiavrebbe testato
noiavremmo testato
voiavreste testato
loroavrebbero testato

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 testatoI will have tested
tuavrai testatoyou will have tested
lui/leiavrà testatohe/she/it will have tested
noiavremo testatowe will have tested
voiavrete testatoyou (pl.) will have tested
loroavranno testatothey will have tested

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
iotesti
tutesti
lui/leitesti
noitestiamo
voitestiate
lorotestino

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
iotestassi
tutestassi
lui/leitestasse
noitestassimo
voitestaste
lorotestassero

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
tutesta
lui/leitesti
noitestiamo
voitestate
lorotestino

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 testare
lui/leinon testi
noinon testiamo
voinon testate
loronon testino