Andare Conjugation

Andare Conjugation

Andare Conjugation is one of the most important things to learn in Italian, since andare translates to go (or to travel) and it’s used when you want to talk about movement from one point to another by any means of transport – on foot or else.

For example:

Vado a Roma in aereo, poi vado alla stazione in treno e vado a piedi all’hotel. 
I go to Rome by plane, then I go to the station by train and I go to the hotel by foot.

Because andare is irregular in many tenses, it is very important to learn how to conjugate andare, so you’ll feel more comfortable using it.

So… Andiamo! Let’s go!

Andare Conjugation – Modo Indicativo

First of all, let’s start by conjugating andare in the finite mood, indicative (indicativo) which is used to express certainty of an action. It has four simple tenses (made of one word) and four compound tenses (i.e. it’s made of two components: an auxiliary verb – essere or avere depending on the verb – and the past participle of the verb – participio passato). Each of these tenses indicate the time when the action, or event, takes place.

Andare in Presente

io vado I go
tu vai you go
lui/lei va he/she/it goes
noi andiamo we go
voi andate you go
loro vanno they go

For example:

Vado a scuola in autobus.
I go to school by bus.

Carla va dal dottore tutti i mesi.
Carla goes to the doctor every month.

Domani i tuoi amici vanno in pizzeria, vuoi andare anche tu?
Tomorrow your friends will go to a pizza place, do you also want to go?

As you can see from the last example, Italian uses the present tense to describe current actions, or events, but also to express future ones. However, you understand you are talking about something that will happen in the future thanks to the presence of time adverbs, in this case tomorrow (domani).

Andare in Passato Prossimo 

Furthermore, andare is an intransitive verb, as most movement verbs, meaning it cannot take a direct object and is used with essere in compound tenses (i.e. tenses with auxiliary essere or avere + past participle of the verb) such as passato prossimo (past tense). Its past participle is andato.

When you encounter a verb which requires essere as auxiliary verb, the past participle agrees with the subject of the sentence in number – singular or plural – and in gender – masculine or feminine – therefore you have four forms: andato (masculine singular), andata (feminine singular), andati (masculine plural), andate (feminine plural).

io sono andato/a I went/have gone
tu sei andato/a you went/have gone
lui/lei è andato/a he/she/it went/has gone
noi siamo andati/e we went/have gone
voi siete andati/e you went/have gone
loro sono andati/e they went/have gone

Use the conjugation of andare in passato prossimo to talk about something you have started and completed in the past. That’s usually an action, or event, which happened only once. For example:

Giulia, sei mai andata al mare in Italia?
Julia, have you ever gone to the beach in Italy?

Stamattina Marco è andato al bar a comprare le brioche.
This morning Marco went to the coffee shop to buy croissants.

Dove siete andate in vacanza tu e tua figlia quest’estate?
Where did you and your daughter go on vacation this summer?

Andare in Imperfetto 

io andavo I went/used to go
tu andavi you went/used to go
lui/lei andava he/she/it went/used to go
noi andavamo we went/used to go
voi andavate you went/used to go
loro andavano they went/used to go

Unlike passato prossimo, the imperfetto is used to talk about recurring or habitual actions of the past, or to describe something or someone of the past. You can even use this tense to describe what happened while another action was in progress.

For example:

Da bambina andavo sempre a giocare al parco.
As a child I always went to play at the park.

Bruno andava a casa di mia nonna dopo scuola.
Bruno used to go to my grandmother’s house after school.

Mentre andavo al supermercato, ho incontrato i miei colleghi.
While I was going to the supermarket, I met my colleagues.

Andare in Trapassato Prossimo

io ero andato / andata I had gone
tu eri andato / andata you had gone
lui/lei era andato / andata he/she/it had gone
noi eravamo andati / andate we had gone
voi eravate andati / andate you had gone
loro erano andati / andate they had gone

Trapassato prossimo is a compound tense used to describe an action which happened before another action happened in the past. Because of this, it’s rarely used by itself.

For example:

Erano già andati a casa, quando li hanno chiamati per tornare in ufficio.
They had already gone home when they called them to return to the office.

Non ero mai andata a teatro, prima di conoscerti.
I had never gone to the theatre, before I met you.

Andare in Passato Remoto 

io andai
tu andasti
lui/lei andò
noi andammo
voi andaste
loro andarono

Passato remoto is mostly used in formal written language, like school books or novels, when referring to an event happened in a distant past. Consequently, it’s barely used in spoken language (usually substituted by passato prossimo), so you just learn it in order to recognize it.

For example:

Nel 1777 LaFayette andò negli Stati Uniti.
In 1777 LaFayette went to the United States.

Andare in Trapassato Remoto

io fui andato/ andata
tu fosti andato/ andata
lui/lei fu andato/ andata
noi fummo andati/ andate
voi foste andati/ andate
loro furono andati/ andate

Trapassato remoto is used to talk about an action happened before another one in the past. Actually, you use it only if the other verb is conjugated in the passato remoto. For this reason, this is the less common tense in Italian.

Andare in Futuro Semplice

io andrò I will go
tu andrai you will go
lui/lei andrà he/she/it will go
noi andremo we will go
voi andrete you will go
loro andranno they will go

As you may notice, Italians tend to avoid using the future in favor of the present tense – if the context makes clear that you are talking about a future action. Nonetheless, you can use this tense also to talk about expectations, assumptions or uncertainty.

For example:

A settembre andremo/andiamo in vacanza in Sicilia.
In September we will go on vacation in Sicily.

Forse Lucia andrà a festeggiare dopo il suo diploma.
Maybe Lucia is going to celebrate after her diploma.

Andare in Futuro Anteriore

io  sarò andato / andata I will have gone
tu  sarai andato / andata you will have gone
lui/lei  sarà andato / lei sarà andata he/she/it will have gone
noi  saremo andati / andate we will have gone
voi  sarete andati / andate you will have gone
loro  saranno andati / andate they will have gone

The futuro anteriore is an uncommon tense, but you need it when you talk about a future action which will only occur after something else has happened. To clarify, the action that will take place first is in futuro anteriore, the one that follows in futuro semplice.

For example:

Ti inviterò a cena, appena i miei saranno andati in campagna.
I’ll invite you for dinner, as soon as my parents go to the countryside.

Andare Conjugation: Modo Congiuntivo

Secondly, there is the subjunctive mood, modo congiuntivo, of andare conjugation. This mood is used when you want to express doubts, opinions, wishes, hopes and hypotheses. It follows verbs that express these meanings (ex. volere, credere, sperare, pensare, etc.) or after certain conjunctions (ex. nonostante, benché, sebbene, a condizione che, etc.), and it rarely stands by itself. The congiuntivo has two simple and two compound tenses.

Here it is the modo congiuntivo of andare conjugation, ready?! Andiamo!

Andare in Congiuntivo Presente

(che) io  vada
(che) tu  vada
(che) lui/lei  vada
(che) noi  andiamo
(che) voi  andiate
(che) loro  vadano

For example:

Voglio che almeno oggi tu vada a casa presto.
I want that at least today you go home early.

Nonostante andiate sempre fuori a giocare, non siete mai stanchi.
Even if you always go out to play, you are never tired.

Andare in Congiuntivo Passato

(che) io  sia andato/andata
(che) tu  sia andato/andata
(che) lui/lei  sia andato/andata
(che) noi  siamo andati/andate
(che) voi  siate andati/andate
(che) loro  siano andati/andate

For example:

Tutti pensano che ieri siate andati a ballare.
Everyone thinks that you went dancing yesterday.

Andare in Congiuntivo Imperfetto 

(che) io  andassi
(che) tu  andassi
(che) lui/lei  andasse
(che) noi  andassimo
(che) voi  andaste
(che) loro  andassero

For example:

Temevo i tuoi amici non andassero più via.
I was afraid your friend would never leave.

Andare in Congiuntivo Trapassato

(che) io  fossi andato/andata
(che) tu  fossi andato/andata
(che) lui/lei   fosse andato/andata
(che) noi  fossimo andati/andate
(che) voi  foste andati/andate
(che) loro  fossero andati/andate

For example:

Non sapevate che fossimo andati a Cannes?
Didn’t you know that we went to Cannes?

Andare Conjugation – Modo Condizionale

Furthermore, another mood of andare conjugation is the condizionale . It is mostly used to form hypotheses in combination with the congiuntivo.

Andare in Condizionale Presente 

io  andrei 
tu  andresti
lui/lei  andrebbe
noi  andremmo
voi  andreste
loro  andrebbero

For example:

Andrei al mare tutti i giorni, se potessi.
I would go to the beach every day, if I could.

Andare in Condizionale Passato

io  sarei andato/andata
tu  saresti andato/andata
lui  sarebbe andato/andata
noi  saremmo andati/andate
voi  sareste andati/andate
loro  sarebbero andati/andate

For example:

Se avessi avuto più tempo, sarei andato anche al museo.
If I had had more time, I would have gone to the museum too.

Andare Conjugation – Imperativo

In this paragraph, you’ll learn the last finite mood of andare conjugation, the imperativo mood, which is mainly used to give orders. That’s why the first-person singular form doesn’t exist. 

va’/vai (tu)
vada (lui/lei)
andiamo (noi)
andate (voi)
vadano (loro)

For example:

Vai subito dentro casa!
Go inside the house right away!

Andare Conjugation –  Modi Indefiniti

Last but not least, here are the indefinite mood forms of the verb andare conjugation. They are impersonal and they only have two forms: present and past.

Andare in Infinito

Presente (Present tense) Passato (Past tense)
andare essere andato/andata/andati/andate

For example:

Dobbiamo andare a trovare i nonni.
We have to go visit the grandparents.

Andare in Participio

Presente (Present tense) Passato (Past tense)
andante andato/andata/andati /andate

As we mentioned in the passato prossimo paragraph, the past participle is used in compound tenses.

For example:

Sono andato in Italia l’anno scorso.
I went to Italy last year.

Andare in Gerundio

Presente (Present tense) Passato (Past tense)
andando essendo andato/andata/andati/andate

For example:

Andando in macchina, puoi fermarti quando vuoi.
Driving you can stop whenever you want.

And you are ready to go!

Vai a parlare in italiano! And tell everyone where you go, where you have gone and will go in Italy!

 

And, to conclude, if you want to practice Italian Grammar and tenses here is a list of useful books for you:

 

By: Lucia Aiello

Lucia Aiello is one of the co-founders of LearnItalianGo. Born and raised in Italy, she is a passionate Italian teacher and language enthusiast.