vivere — Italian conjugation
to live
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 | vivo | I live |
| tu | vivi | you live |
| lui/lei | vive | he/she/it lives |
| noi | viviamo | we live |
| voi | vivete | you (pl.) live |
| loro | vivono | they live |
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 | vissi | I lived |
| tu | vivesti | you lived |
| lui/lei | visse | he/she/it lived |
| noi | vivemmo | we lived |
| voi | viveste | you (pl.) lived |
| loro | vissero | they lived |
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 | vivevo |
| tu | vivevi |
| lui/lei | viveva |
| noi | vivevamo |
| voi | vivevate |
| loro | vivevano |
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 | vivrei | I would live |
| tu | vivresti | you would live |
| lui/lei | vivrebbe | he/she/it would live |
| noi | vivremmo | we would live |
| voi | vivreste | you (pl.) would live |
| loro | vivrebbero | they would live |
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 | vivrò | I will live |
| tu | vivrai | you will live |
| lui/lei | vivrà | he/she/it will live |
| noi | vivremo | we will live |
| voi | vivrete | you (pl.) will live |
| loro | vivranno | they will live |
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 | sono vissuto/a | I have lived |
| tu | sei vissuto/a | you have lived |
| lui/lei | è vissuto/a | he/she/it has lived |
| noi | siamo vissuti/e | we have lived |
| voi | siete vissuti/e | you (pl.) have lived |
| loro | sono vissuti/e | they have lived |
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 | ero vissuto/a | I had lived |
| tu | eri vissuto/a | you had lived |
| lui/lei | era vissuto/a | he/she/it had lived |
| noi | eravamo vissuti/e | we had lived |
| voi | eravate vissuti/e | you (pl.) had lived |
| loro | erano vissuti/e | they had lived |
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 | sarei vissuto/a |
| tu | saresti vissuto/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe vissuto/a |
| noi | saremmo vissuti/e |
| voi | sareste vissuti/e |
| loro | sarebbero vissuti/e |
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 | sarò vissuto/a | I will have lived |
| tu | sarai vissuto/a | you will have lived |
| lui/lei | sarà vissuto/a | he/she/it will have lived |
| noi | saremo vissuti/e | we will have lived |
| voi | sarete vissuti/e | you (pl.) will have lived |
| loro | saranno vissuti/e | they will have lived |
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 | viva |
| tu | viva |
| lui/lei | viva |
| noi | viviamo |
| voi | viviate |
| loro | vivano |
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 | vivessi |
| tu | vivessi |
| lui/lei | vivesse |
| noi | vivessimo |
| voi | viveste |
| loro | vivessero |
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 | vivi |
| lui/lei | viva |
| noi | viviamo |
| voi | vivete |
| loro | vivano |
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 vivere |
| lui/lei | non viva |
| noi | non viviamo |
| voi | non vivete |
| loro | non vivano |