vacillare — Italian conjugation
to hesitate
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 | vacillo | I hesitate |
| tu | vacilli | you hesitate |
| lui/lei | vacilla | he/she/it hesitates |
| noi | vacilliamo | we hesitate |
| voi | vacillate | you (pl.) hesitate |
| loro | vacillano | they hesitate |
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 | vacillai | I hesitated |
| tu | vacillasti | you hesitated |
| lui/lei | vacillò | he/she/it hesitated |
| noi | vacillammo | we hesitated |
| voi | vacillaste | you (pl.) hesitated |
| loro | vacillarono | they hesitated |
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 | vacillavo |
| tu | vacillavi |
| lui/lei | vacillava |
| noi | vacillavamo |
| voi | vacillavate |
| loro | vacillavano |
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 | vacillerei | I would hesitate |
| tu | vacilleresti | you would hesitate |
| lui/lei | vacillerebbe | he/she/it would hesitate |
| noi | vacilleremmo | we would hesitate |
| voi | vacillereste | you (pl.) would hesitate |
| loro | vacillerebbero | they would hesitate |
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 | vacillerò | I will hesitate |
| tu | vacillerai | you will hesitate |
| lui/lei | vacillerà | he/she/it will hesitate |
| noi | vacilleremo | we will hesitate |
| voi | vacillerete | you (pl.) will hesitate |
| loro | vacilleranno | they will hesitate |
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 vacillato | I have hesitated |
| tu | hai vacillato | you have hesitated |
| lui/lei | ha vacillato | he/she/it has hesitated |
| noi | abbiamo vacillato | we have hesitated |
| voi | avete vacillato | you (pl.) have hesitated |
| loro | hanno vacillato | they have hesitated |
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 vacillato | I had hesitated |
| tu | avevi vacillato | you had hesitated |
| lui/lei | aveva vacillato | he/she/it had hesitated |
| noi | avevamo vacillato | we had hesitated |
| voi | avevate vacillato | you (pl.) had hesitated |
| loro | avevano vacillato | they had hesitated |
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 vacillato |
| tu | avresti vacillato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe vacillato |
| noi | avremmo vacillato |
| voi | avreste vacillato |
| loro | avrebbero vacillato |
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 vacillato | I will have hesitated |
| tu | avrai vacillato | you will have hesitated |
| lui/lei | avrà vacillato | he/she/it will have hesitated |
| noi | avremo vacillato | we will have hesitated |
| voi | avrete vacillato | you (pl.) will have hesitated |
| loro | avranno vacillato | they will have hesitated |
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 | vacilli |
| tu | vacilli |
| lui/lei | vacilli |
| noi | vacilliamo |
| voi | vacilliate |
| loro | vacillino |
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 | vacillassi |
| tu | vacillassi |
| lui/lei | vacillasse |
| noi | vacillassimo |
| voi | vacillaste |
| loro | vacillassero |
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 | vacilla |
| lui/lei | vacilli |
| noi | vacilliamo |
| voi | vacillate |
| loro | vacillino |
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 vacillare |
| lui/lei | non vacilli |
| noi | non vacilliamo |
| voi | non vacillate |
| loro | non vacillino |