truffare — Italian conjugation

to scam, to swindle

Frequency#1023Regular

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
iotruffoI scam
tutruffiyou scam
lui/leitruffahe/she/it scams
noitruffiamowe scam
voitruffateyou (pl.) scam
lorotruffanothey scam

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
iotruffaiI scammed
tutruffastiyou scammed
lui/leitruffòhe/she/it scammed
noitruffammowe scammed
voitruffasteyou (pl.) scammed
lorotruffaronothey scammed

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
iotruffavo
tutruffavi
lui/leitruffava
noitruffavamo
voitruffavate
lorotruffavano

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
iotruffereiI would scam
tutrufferestiyou would scam
lui/leitrufferebbehe/she/it would scam
noitrufferemmowe would scam
voitrufferesteyou (pl.) would scam
lorotrufferebberothey would scam

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
iotrufferòI will scam
tutrufferaiyou will scam
lui/leitrufferàhe/she/it will scam
noitrufferemowe will scam
voitruffereteyou (pl.) will scam
lorotrufferannothey will scam

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 truffatoI have scammed
tuhai truffatoyou have scammed
lui/leiha truffatohe/she/it has scammed
noiabbiamo truffatowe have scammed
voiavete truffatoyou (pl.) have scammed
lorohanno truffatothey have scammed

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 truffatoI had scammed
tuavevi truffatoyou had scammed
lui/leiaveva truffatohe/she/it had scammed
noiavevamo truffatowe had scammed
voiavevate truffatoyou (pl.) had scammed
loroavevano truffatothey had scammed

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 truffato
tuavresti truffato
lui/leiavrebbe truffato
noiavremmo truffato
voiavreste truffato
loroavrebbero truffato

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 truffatoI will have scammed
tuavrai truffatoyou will have scammed
lui/leiavrà truffatohe/she/it will have scammed
noiavremo truffatowe will have scammed
voiavrete truffatoyou (pl.) will have scammed
loroavranno truffatothey will have scammed

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
iotruffi
tutruffi
lui/leitruffi
noitruffiamo
voitruffiate
lorotruffino

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
iotruffassi
tutruffassi
lui/leitruffasse
noitruffassimo
voitruffaste
lorotruffassero

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
tutruffa
lui/leitruffi
noitruffiamo
voitruffate
lorotruffino

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 truffare
lui/leinon truffi
noinon truffiamo
voinon truffate
loronon truffino