volere — Italian conjugation
to want
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
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 | voglio | I want |
| tu | vuoi | you want |
| lui/lei | vuole | he/she/it wants |
| noi | vogliamo | we want |
| voi | volete | you (pl.) want |
| loro | vogliono | they want |
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 | volli | I wanted |
| tu | volesti | you wanted |
| lui/lei | volle | he/she/it wanted |
| noi | volemmo | we wanted |
| voi | voleste | you (pl.) wanted |
| loro | vollero | they wanted |
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 | volevo |
| tu | volevi |
| lui/lei | voleva |
| noi | volevamo |
| voi | volevate |
| loro | volevano |
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 | vorrei | I would want |
| tu | vorresti | you would want |
| lui/lei | vorrebbe | he/she/it would want |
| noi | vorremmo | we would want |
| voi | vorreste | you (pl.) would want |
| loro | vorrebbero | they would want |
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 | vorrò | I will want |
| tu | vorrai | you will want |
| lui/lei | vorrà | he/she/it will want |
| noi | vorremo | we will want |
| voi | vorrete | you (pl.) will want |
| loro | vorranno | they will want |
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 voluto | I have wanted |
| tu | hai voluto | you have wanted |
| lui/lei | ha voluto | he/she/it has wanted |
| noi | abbiamo voluto | we have wanted |
| voi | avete voluto | you (pl.) have wanted |
| loro | hanno voluto | they have wanted |
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 voluto | I had wanted |
| tu | avevi voluto | you had wanted |
| lui/lei | aveva voluto | he/she/it had wanted |
| noi | avevamo voluto | we had wanted |
| voi | avevate voluto | you (pl.) had wanted |
| loro | avevano voluto | they had wanted |
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 voluto |
| tu | avresti voluto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe voluto |
| noi | avremmo voluto |
| voi | avreste voluto |
| loro | avrebbero voluto |
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 voluto | I will have wanted |
| tu | avrai voluto | you will have wanted |
| lui/lei | avrà voluto | he/she/it will have wanted |
| noi | avremo voluto | we will have wanted |
| voi | avrete voluto | you (pl.) will have wanted |
| loro | avranno voluto | they will have wanted |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular
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 | voglia |
| tu | voglia |
| lui/lei | voglia |
| noi | vogliamo |
| voi | vogliate |
| loro | vogliano |
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 | volessi |
| tu | volessi |
| lui/lei | volesse |
| noi | volessimo |
| voi | voleste |
| loro | volessero |
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 | vogli |
| lui/lei | voglia |
| noi | vogliamo |
| voi | vogliate |
| loro | vogliano |
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 volere |
| lui/lei | non voglia |
| noi | non vogliamo |
| voi | non vogliate |
| loro | non vogliano |