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Dire Conjugation – How to Sound Like an Italian!

Dire Conjugation could surely be very helpful to you when starting a conversation with someone coming from Italy.

Dire is one of the most well-known Italian verbs you can’t do without: it’s primarily employed to report what people say or just said, to tell stories and so on. Moreover, it is considered as a verb of third conjugation because it ends in -ire. Apart from being an irregular verb, it also has various equivalents in English: to say, tell, recite and even talk.

To better understand what we are talking about, look at the following examples:

Perché non mi hai detto dell’audizione?
Why didn’t you talk to me about the audition?

Allora, che ti ha detto? È ancora arrabbiata con me, non è vero?
So, what did she tell you? She’s still mad at me, isn’t she?

Dire Conjugation – Presente

Presente Indicativo of the Italian Verb Dire

First of all, we have to say that dire has an irregular conjugation. For this reason, you should learn it by heart. Let’s begin with the Presente, one of the most used Italian tenses to indicate habits or actions that are happening right now:

Io dico

Tu dici

Lui / Lei dice

Noi diciamo

Voi dite

Loro dicono

Examples:

Dico solo che dovresti essere più gentile con il tuo patrigno.
I’m just saying you should be kinder to your stepfather.

Margot dice che stasera verrà a cena con il suo nuovo ragazzo.
Margot says that she is coming for dinner tonight with her new boyfriend.

Fun fact: did you know that Italians sometimes get confused when they have to employ dite in a sentence? Some of them often make a mistake by saying dicete instead of dite. As you can see, in the conjugation of dire in the present tense, the consonant c occurs in every person, except in the second plural. For this reason, you might be mistaken. Therefore, pay attention when using the verb in the Presente!

Dire Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io ho detto

Tu hai detto

Lui / Lei ha detto

Noi abbiamo detto

Voi avete detto

Loro hanno detto

Going on, we can bump into Passato Prossimo, tense employed when mentioning actions that happened in the recent past. Like many other verbs, dire also requires the auxiliary to have.

Examples:

Che cosa ti ha detto quando vi siete rivisti?
What did he tell you when you ran into each other again?

Matthew mi ha detto che trascorrerà le vacanze di Natale con noi.
Matthew told me he is spending Christmas holidays with us.

Dire Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io dicevo

Tu dicevi

Lui / Lei diceva

Noi dicevamo

Voi dicevate

Loro dicevano

Instead, you resort to Imperfetto in Italian when wanting to report past habits or actions in progress in the past.

Examples:

I tuoi genitori dicevano che sarebbe venuto a trovarci.
Your parents said they would come to visit us.

Diceva sempre la verità ma comunque nessuno gli credeva.
He always used to tell the truth but no one believed him anyway.

Dire Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Io avevo detto

Tu avevi detto

Lui / Lei aveva detto

Noi avevamo detto

Voi avevate detto

Loro avevano detto

Concerning Trapassato Prossimo, this tense is basically applied when referring to an event that occurred before another one in the past. To form it, you need the simple past of avere, together with detto, the past participle of dire.

Examples:

Non mi avevi detto che sarebbe venuto anche Lea a Roma.
You hadn’t told me that Lea would come to Rome, too.

Si rattristava pensando a quello che le avevano detto.
She got sad when she thought about what they said to her.

Dire Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Io dissi

Tu dicesti

Lui / Lei disse

Noi dicemmo

Voi diceste

Loro dissero

Let’s move now to Passato Remoto, one of the less appreciated and vanishing tenses in Italian grammar. You are required to employ it in case you wish to talk about facts that happened a long time ago.

Examples:

Dicesti di volerti trasferire all’estero. Perché non l’hai fatto?
You told me you wished to move abroad. Why didn’t you do that?

Le dicemmo di rivolgersi a Maurizio in caso di necessità.
We told her to address Maurizio if she needed to.

Dire Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io ebbi detto

Tu avesti detto

Lui / Lei ebbe detto

Noi avemmo detto

Voi aveste detto

Loro ebbero detto

Before using this tense, you need to know that Trapassato Remoto has almost disappeared in the spoken language. Nowadays, you can find it only in documentaries, literature and novels. Being a compound tense, it is composed by the auxiliary (in this case to have) in the Passato Remoto and the past participle of the main verb.

Examples:

Dopo che gli ebbe detto che era finita, incominciò a piangere.
After she had told him they were done, he started to cry.

Dopo che avemmo detto a tutti quello che era successo, nessuno osò ribattere.
After we had said to everyone what had happened, no one dared to reply.

Dire Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

Io dirò

Tu dirai

Lui / Lei dirà

Noi diremo

Voi direte

Loro diranno

On the contrary, Italian Futuro is often replaced by the present tense. Anyway, you are suggested to employ it when pointing out events that have yet to happen (Futuro Semplice) or a fact that will be finished before another one takes place (Futuro Anteriore).

Examples:

Se gli chiedessi di accompagnarti, sono certo che ti dirà di sì!
If you asked him to accompany you, I’m sure he’ll tell you yes!

Credi che ti dirà la stessa cosa anche questa volta?
Do you believe she will tell you the same thing once again?

Dire Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io avrò detto

Tu avrai detto

Lui / Lei avrà detto

Noi avremo detto

Voi avrete detto

Loro avranno detto

Examples:

Carole e Stephan vi avranno certamente detto che si sposeranno l’anno prossimo.
Carole and Stephan definitely told you they are getting married next year.

Ti avrà detto del suo nuovo vicino di casa, no?
He must have talked to you about his new neighbor, right?

As you can notice, in the second example dire has been used in the place of the verb to talk. This mostly happens on informal occasions.

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Similarly, Italians avoid employing Congiuntivo in favor of the present and past tenses of the indicative mood. This happens because its formation is quite complex. In addition, its use is less and less frequent, especially among youngsters. However, it still appears in the written language (chiefly in formal contexts) and the educational field. Furthermore, its main feature is the conjunction che preceding the conjugated verb.

Che io dica

Che tu dica

Che lui / lei dica

Che noi diciamo

Che voi diciate

Che loro dicano

Examples:

Vuole che tu gli dica chi verrà alla festa di Christopher.
He wants you to tell him who is coming to Christopher’s party.

Spero che ci dicano dove andranno questo weekend.
I hope they will tell us where they are going this weekend.

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Che io abbia detto

Che tu abbia detto

Che lui / lei abbia detto

Che noi abbiamo detto

Che voi abbiate detto

Che loro abbiano detto

Examples:

Penso che abbia detto di non voler essere disturbata.
I think she said she didn’t want to be bothered.

Dubito seriamente che glielo abbiano detto.
I seriously doubt that they said it to him.

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Che io dicessi

Che tu dicessi

Che lui / lei dicesse

Che noi dicessimo

Che voi diceste

Che loro dicessero

Examples:

E se ti dicessi che ieri sono uscito con la tua ex?
What if I tell you yesterday I hung out with your ex?

Speravo che ce lo dicessero i nostri amici, non i nostri genitori!
I hoped that our friends told it to us, not our parents!

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Che io avessi detto

Che tu avessi detto

Che lui / lei avesse detto

Che noi avessimo detto

Che voi aveste detto

Che loro avessero detto

Examples:

Mi pareva che avesse detto di essere nato in Australia.
It seems to me that he said he was born in Australia.

Pensavo che avessero detto che sarebbero passati più tardi.
I thought they had said that they would come over later.

Dire Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Speaking about Italian Condizionale, you are suggested to apply it when expressing wishes, intentions, and polite requests. In most cases, you can employ it in combination with Congiuntivo to build hypothetical sentences.

Io direi

Tu diresti

Lui / Lei direbbe

Noi diremmo

Voi direste

Loro direbbero

Examples:

Cosa direbbe se sapesse che in questo momento sei qui con me?
What would he say if he knew that you are here with me now?

Direi che Cristina è la persona più adatta a ricoprire questo ruolo.
I would say that Cristina is the right person to cover this role.

Dire Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io avrei detto

Tu avresti detto

Lui / Lei avrebbe detto

Noi avremmo detto

Voi avreste detto

Loro avrebbero detto

Examples:

Mi hai promesso che lo avresti detto prima a noi, poi agli altri!
You promised me you would mention it to us first, then to the others!

Se non vi avesse invitato al suo addio al celibato, che cosa avreste detto?
If he hadn’t invited you to his bachelor party, what would you have told?

Dire Conjugation – Imperativo

In case you want to give orders, instructions, suggestions, or advice to someone, you are called to apply Imperativo. Since dire doesn’t follow the general rules of conjugation, you need to resort to its forms.

Dì (tu)

Dica (Lei)

Diciamo (Noi)

Dite (Voi)

Dicano (Loro)

Examples:

Dì quello che devi dire e poi vai via!
Just say what you have to say and then leave!

Dica quello che Le pare! Non posso farla accomodare comunque!
She can say whatever she wants! I can’t make her sit by the way!

Remember that you need a further –m / –c when employing the indirect object pronouns mi / ci at the second person singular.

Examples:

Dimmi che mi amerei per sempre e che non mi tradirai mai.
Tell me you will always love me and you will never cheat on me.

Dicci che andrà tutto bene e che staremo meglio.
Tell us that it will be ok and we’ll be better off.

Dire Conjugation – Infinito

Present tense	Past tense
Dire	Aver detto

Examples:

Un antico proverbio recita: “tra il dire e il fare c’è di mezzo il mare”.
As an old saying goes: “easier said than done”.

Dopo averle detto come stavano realmente le cose, sorrise.
After telling her how things really were, she smiled.

Dire Conjugation – Participio

Present tense	Past tense
Dicente	Detto

Examples:

Chi è il prete dicente messa stamattina?
Who’s the priest officiating at mass this morning?

Detto ciò, possiamo andare a dormire e riparlarne domani.
After saying that, we can go to sleep and talk about it again tomorrow.

Note that the form dicente is quite obsolete.

Anyway, it is mainly employed in very formal contexts. If not necessary, you better not use it!

Dire Conjugation – Gerundio

Finally, we can find Gerundio, another tense you don’t use in Italian very often. Generally, it occurs in sentences in the present progressive.

Present tense	Past tense
Dicendo	Avendo detto

Examples:

Ma che cosa stai dicendo? Sei matto?
What are you saying? Are you insane?

Avendo detto a Piero che sto male, è passato a trovarmi.
Having told Piero I’m sick, he came to visit me.

Now that you are able to conjugate and use dire properly, dimmi qualcosa and let’s start talking to each other!

By: Alfonso Di Somma

Born and raised in Italy, he is an Italian professional translator and a tireless traveler. His main passion? Foreign languages!

August 28, 2021/by Alfonso Di Somma

Italian Grammar

Sapere Conjugation and All its Uses in Italy!

If your goal is to know the Italian language, Sapere Conjugation is certainly the thing you have to keep in mind. Sapere is a verb in Italian that means exactly that, to know. As we have said in this previous article, there is another verb that translates to know in Italian: the verb conoscere. They have different uses and meanings, and today we will focus on sapere.

Sapere means to know something and it is an irregular verb of the second conjugation. It can also have the meaning of to know how to do something and in that case it has a similar meaning but different use of conoscere. Sapere is also used in intransitive way and in that case it can also mean to have the taste / smell of . Also, sapere can have the meaning of to think / to suspect something.

Now, I know you are really curious about all these meaning and uses…
But, before starting to see all of them, let’s learn how to change it through the italian tenses!

Sapere Conjugation – Presente Indicativo

Sapere Conjugation - To know in Italian - Presente Indicativo

Io so

Tu sai

Lui/lei sa

Noi sappiamo

Voi sapete

Loro sanno

As an irregular verb, sapere doesn’t follow typical rules for the present tense. It has a unique form that you’ll need to learn by heart.

Examples:

Sappiamo tutti che Mario si è innamorato di Alice.
We all know that Mario has fallen in love with Alice.

Sai suonare la chitarra?
Can you play the guitar?

Questi turisti sanno parlare benissimo l’italiano .
These tourists can speak Italian very well.

Sapere Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io ho saputo

Tu hai saputo

Lui/lei ha saputo

Noi abbiamo saputo

Voi avete saputo

Loro hanno saputo

Sapere is a transitive verb. Consequently, in the compound tenses it uses the verb avere as an auxiliary verb. Passato Prossimo is the first compound tense you’ll learn in your Italian journey. It’s the tense of the actions that happened in the recent past. Use this tense when you want to talk about what happened this morning, yesterday or a year ago etc.

Examples:

Ho appena saputo la notizia, mi dispiace.
I just heard the news, I’m sorry.

Hanno saputo che non ero a casa.
They heard that I wasn’t home.

Hai saputo qualcosa di Gianni?
Have you heard something about Gianni?

Sapere Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io sapevo

Tu sapevi

Lui/lei sapeva

Noi sapevamo

Voi sapevate

Loro sapevano

Imperfetto is another important past tense in the Italian language. It’s used to express the habits from the past, to talk about emotions you had and to describe something in the past.

Examples:

Sapevo bene che non dovevo andare là, ma ci sono andato comunque.
I knew very well that I didn’t have to go there, but I went anyway.

Hai detto che sapevi come aiutarla.
You said you knew how to help her.

Tutti sapevano che era innocente.
Everyone knew he was innocent.

Sapere Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Sapere Conjugation - To know in Italian - Trapassato Prossimo

Io avevo saputo

Tu avevi saputo

Lui/lei aveva saputo

Noi avevamo saputo

Voi avevate saputo

Loro avevano saputo

Another compound tense you’ll need is Trapassato Prossimo. It’s formed by the verb avere in Imperfetto and Past Participle of the verb sapere. You’ll use this tense when you want to express the action that had happened before another one.

Examples:

Avevo saputo che era tornata a Londra.
I had heard that she was back in London.

Ha già sentito che avevamo saputo del suo rapporto con Matteo.
She has already heard that we had found out about her relationship with Matteo.

Sapere Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Io seppi

Tu sapesti

Lui/lei seppe

Noi sapemmo

Voi sapeste

Loro seppero

The verb sapere has irregular forms also in Passato Remoto. This tense is used to express actions that happened a long time ago in the past. It’s almost never used in the spoken language, but you’ll see it in the novels.

Examples:

Appena la vidi, seppi di essere nei guai.
As soon as I saw her, I knew I was in trouble.

E nessuno seppe mai che lo amavo.
And no one ever knew I loved him.

Tutti i parenti furono sorpresi quando seppero che loro due si sarebbero sposati.
All the relatives were surprised when they learned that they were getting married.

Sapere Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io ebbi saputo

Tu avesti saputo

Lui/lei ebbe saputo

Noi avemmo saputo

Voi aveste saputo

Loro ebbero saputo

Trapassato Remoto is made of the auxiliary verb in the passato remoto and the past participle. It’s always used in the sentences with the passato remoto to express action that happened before another one in the past.

Examples:

Dopo che ebbe saputo dove abitava Maria, andò a visitarla.
After he found out where Mary lived, he went to visit her.

Appena ebbero saputo il tuo indirizzo ti vennero a cercare.
As soon as they heard your address they came looking for you.

Sapere Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

Sapere Conjugation - To know in Italian - Future Tense

Io saprò

Tu saprai

Lui/lei saprà

Noi sapremo

Voi saprete

Loro sapranno

In Italian we can speak about the future in two ways. We use Futuro Semplice when we want to describe something that is going to happen at some point in the future. If you want to talk about your plans you can use Futuro Semplice.

Examples:

Se mi dici dove vuoi andare saprò dove portarti.
If you tell me where you want to go I’ll know where to take you.

Quando lo vedi, saprai cosa dirgli.
When you see him, you’ll know what to say.

Appena sapranno cosa è successo, verranno qua.
As soon as they know what happened, they will come here.

Sapere Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io avrò saputo

Tu avrai saputo

Lui/lei avrà saputo

Noi avremo saputo

Voi avrete saputo

Loro avranno saputo

Another way to talk about the future is to use Futuro Anteriore. Use it when you want to talk about the action that will be finished in the future before another one starts. It’s also used to express assumptions about something that happened in the past but has consequences in the present.

Examples:

Ti telefono appena avrò saputo qualche novità.
I’ll call you as soon as I know something new.

Sono sicura che ormai l’avranno saputo.
I’m sure they must have heard by now.

Come avrete saputo, ci trasferiremo a New York.
As you may have heard, we are moving to New York City.

Sapere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Sapere Conjugation - To know in Italian - Congiuntivo

Che io sappia

Che tu sappia

Che lui/lei sappia

Che noi sappiamo

Che voi sappiate

Che loro sappiano

The Subjunctive in Italian is called Congiuntivo. You have to use Congiuntivo when expressing your opinion, or when you talk about something that is not certain. Before the verb you will usually see the conjunction che.

The Subjunctive is very used in Italian and it has 4 different tenses: Congiuntivo Presente, Congiuntivo Passato, Congiuntivo Imperfetto and Congiuntivo Trapassato.

Examples:

Immagino che tu sappia perché sei qui.
I guess you know why you are here.

Non voglio che sappiano dove mi trovo.
I don’t want them to know where I am.

Credo che sappiate perché è andato via.
I think you know why he left.

Sapere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Che io abbia saputo

Che tu abbia saputo

Che lui/lei abbia saputo

Che noi abbiamo saputo

Che voi abbiate saputo

Che loro abbiano saputo

Examples:

Sembra che mio figlio abbia saputo dell’incidente.
It seems that my son heard about the incident.

Non so quanti di voi l’abbiano saputo, ma abbiamo delle buone notizie.
I don’t know how many of you have heard this, but we have some good news.

Credo che abbiate già saputo cosa era successo a Marco.
I think you already heard what had happened to Marco.

Sapere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Che io sapessi

Che tu sapessi

Che lui/lei sapesse

Che noi sapessimo

Che voi sapeste

Che loro sapessero

Examples:

Pensavo che sapessi suonare il pianoforte.
I thought you knew how to play the piano.

Sembrava che non ne sapesse niente.
He didn’t seem to know anything about it.

Mario voleva che tutti sapessero del suo ritorno.
Mario wanted everyone to know about his return.

Sapere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Che io avessi saputo

Che tu avessi saputo

Che lui/lei avesse saputo

Che noi avessimo saputo

Che voi aveste saputo

Che loro avessero saputo

Examples:

Anche se l’avessi saputo, non avrei reagito diversamente.
Even if I had known, I wouldn’t have reacted differently.

Perché vi comportate come se aveste saputo qualcosa di molto brutto?
Why do you act like you’ve heard something really bad?

Pensavo che avessero già saputo tutto.
I thought they had heard it all before.

Sapere Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Sapere Conjugation - To know in Italian - Condizionale

Io saprei

Tu sapresti

Lui/lei saprebbe

Noi sapremmo

Voi sapreste

Loro saprebbero

To express yourself in the polite and gentle mode you will need Condizionale. It’s also used to express wishes, hypothesis, doubt and regret.

Examples:

Non saprei cosa dire.
I wouldn’t know what to say.

Scusi, mi saprebbe dire dove si trova via Roma?
Excuse me, could you tell me where is via Roma?

Se fossi come tua madre, sapresti cucinare.
If you were like your mother, you would know how to cook.

Sapere Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io avrei saputo

Tu avresti saputo

Lui/lei avrebbe saputo

Noi avremmo saputo

Voi avreste saputo

Loro avrebbero saputo

Conditional in Italian has two tenses. It can be in the present and in the past. Condizionale Passato is also used to express the future action from the viewpoint of the past.

Examples:

L’avresti saputo se fosse tornato in Italia.
You would have known if he had returned to Italy.

Gli ho assicurato che avremmo saputo cosa fare in quella situazione.
I assured him that we would know what to do in that situation.

Sapere Conjugation – Imperativo

Sappi (Tu)

Sappia (Lei)

Sappiamo (Noi)

Sappiate (Voi)

Sappiano (Loro)

The Imperative of the verb sapere is irregular and it has its own forms. You use Imperativo in Italian, as in English, when you want to give orders, instructions or advice.

Examples:

Sappi che ti appoggerò, qualsiasi decisione prenderai.
Just know that I will support you, whatever decision you make.

Sappiate che vi vorremmo bene, per sempre.
Please know that we will love you, forever.

Sapere Conjugation – Infinito

Present Tense	Past Tense
Sapere	Aver saputo

Examples:

Ho bisogno di sapere dove hai dormito stanotte.
I need to know where you slept last night.

Dopo aver saputo che sono stata qui, mi ha chiamato.
After he heard I was here, he called me.

Sapere Conjugation – Participio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Sapiente	Saputo

The present participle of the verb sapere is sapiente. It’s used as an adjective and means wise. Past participle of sapere is used in every compound tense in sapere conjugation.

Examples:

Era considerata una donna sapiente e molto in gamba.
She was considered a wise and very accomplished woman.

Ho saputo che il ragazzo che mi piace si è sposato.
I found out that the guy I like got married.

Sapere Conjugation – Gerundio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Sapendo	Avendo saputo

Gerundio in italian has a lot of uses. It can be in the present and in the past. You form it with the suffixes -endo or -ando.

Examples:

Supererò qualsiasi ostacolo, sapendo che sei al mio fianco.
I’ll get through any obstacles, knowing that you are by my side.

Avendo saputo della cattiva salute del padre, Alberto ha deciso di tornare a casa.
Having heard about his father’s ill health, Alberto decided to return home.

Different Uses Of Sapere In Italian

1. Sapere Meaning to know (something)

The verb sapere literally means to know. More precisely, it means to know something, to know some fact or a situation.

Unlike in English, in Italian we can’t use the verb sapere to say that we know someone. For that purpose we use the verb conoscere.

Examples:

Sai cosa è successo ieri alla festa?
You know what happened at the party yesterday?

Sapevate che lei non è italiana?
Did you know that she is not Italian?

2. Sapere Meaning to find out, to become aware

Sapere, when used in Passato Prossimo, means to find out, to hear about something.

Pay attention when you put the verb sapere in the past tenses. When it’s used in Imperfetto it means to know, but with Passato Prossimo it means to find out.

Let’s see some examples:

Ho saputo che Anna si è sposata con Marco.
I found out that Anna got married to Marco.

Sapevo che loro non vengono alla festa.
I knew they don’t come to the party.

3. Sapere Meaning To be able to do something / Can

Followed by an infinitive it’s used to express knowing how to do something, having some skill.

Examples:

Mia sorella sa suonare la chitarra.
My sister can play the guitar.

Sai parlare la lingua italiana?
Can you speak Italian?

4. Sapere + di Meaning to taste like something else

Followed by preposition di it means to taste like something, or to give the impression of something.

Examples:

Questo vino sa di aceto.
This wine tastes like vinegar.

Questa storia mi sa falsa.
This story sounds fake to me.

5. Sapere Meaning to think, to suspect

Sapere can also be translated as to think, to suspect but only when it refers to the speaker, in the first person. In that case we use the construction Mi sa che.

Let’s see some examples:

Mi sa che non passa l’esame.
I think he won’t pass the exam.

Mi sa che domani piove.
I think it’s going to rain tomorrow.

With all this in your mind you are one step closer to finally sapere l’italiano.

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.

August 23, 2021/by Lucia

Italian Grammar

Conoscere Conjugation – Speak Like an Italian!

You should know Conoscere Conjugation if you want to master all Italian irregular verbs. To translate the english verb to know In Italian, we can say conoscere or sapere. Because they have different uses and meanings, for now we will focus on the first one: conoscere.

Conoscere literally means to know. You can use it with people or places that you know very well. Conoscere also means to experience something, when you have knowledge gained from your life experiences. Also we can have the form ri-conoscere, with the meaning of to recognise someone (or something). With the verb fare, conoscere has also the meaning of to introduce or to meet someone (or a place).

Here are some examples:

Conosco questa ragazza che sta parlando con Matteo.
I know this girl who is talking to Matteo.

Ieri ho finalmente conosciuto un ragazzo che mi è piaciuto molto.
Yesterday I finally met a guy that I really liked.

Lo riconosco dalla voce.
I recognise him from his voice.

Mia madre mi ha fatto conoscere un suo amico.
My mother introduced me to a friend of hers.

Now that you are starting to understand its meaning, let’s see in detail the Conjugation of the verb conoscere in all its tenses.

Conoscere Conjugation – Presente Indicativo

Io conosco

Tu conosci

Lui/lei conosce

Noi conosciamo

Voi conoscete

Loro conoscono

Conoscere is a verb of the second conjugation. Presente in Italian is the same as Present Simple in English. It’s used to express a present action or state.

Examples:

Quando conosce una persona, per lei è molto importante il contatto fisico.
When she meets someone, physical contact is very important to her.

Non conosco l’artista, ma questa scultura mi piace un sacco.
I don’t know the artist, but I really like this sculpture.

Conosciamo una ragazza che si chiama come te.
We know a girl with the same name as you.

Before going any further, if you want to repeat Italian tenses here is a useful books for you:

Conoscere Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io ho conosciuto

Tu hai conosciuto

Lui/lei ha conosciuto

Noi abbiamo conosciuto

Voi avete conosciuto

Loro hanno conosciuto

Conoscere is a transitive verb followed by a direct object. Which means that in passato prossimo we use the verb avere as an auxiliary verb. The Passato Prossimo of conoscere is conosciuto. We use Passato Prossimo to indicate the action that happened in the past.

Examples:

Ieri alla festa ho conosciuto un ragazzo molto simpatico.
Yesterday at the party I met a very nice guy.

Quando hai conosciuto Anna?
When did you meet Anna?

Abbiamo conosciuto una ragazza coreana che ci ha parlato molto del suo paese.
We met a Korean girl who told us a lot about her country.

Conoscere Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io conoscevo

Tu conoscevi

Lui/lei conosceva

Noi conoscevamo

Voi conoscevate

Loro conoscevano

Another tense to express the past is Imperfetto. Do not confuse it with Passato Prossimo: If you are not sure about the difference read this article first. Use Imperfetto when you want to express habits or feelings from the past or when you want to describe something in the past.

Examples:

Non conoscevo il nome dei fiori che avevo visto nel suo giardino.
I didn’t know the name of the flowers I had seen in his garden.

Durante la festa sono entrati due ragazzi che nessuno conosceva.
During the party, two guys that nobody knew walked in.

Ho incontrato dei ragazzi che conoscevano mio fratello.
I met a few guys who knew my brother.

Conoscere Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Io avevo conosciuto

Tu avevi conosciuto

Lui/lei aveva conosciuto

Noi avevamo conosciuto

Voi avevate conosciuto

Loro avevano conosciuto

Trapassato prossimo is the compound tense. You form it with an auxiliary verb, essere or avere, in Imperfetto plus Participio Passato of the main verb. Use this tense when you want to express an action that happened before another one in the past.

Examples:

Non avevo mai conosciuto qualcuno di così intelligente.
I had never met anyone as smart as him.

Ha finalmente incontrato quel ragazzo che aveva conosciuto online.
She finally met that guy she met online.

Giorgio era un ragazzo che avevamo conosciuto all’Università.
Giorgio was a guy we had met in college.

Conoscere Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Conoscere Conjugation - Trapassato Remoto

Io conobbi

Tu conoscesti

Lui/lei conobbe

Noi conoscemmo

Voi conosceste

Loro conobbero

If you love reading you’ll probably become familiar with this tense. Otherwise, you’ll hardly encounter Passato Remoto. We use it to express an action that happened a long time ago and it is mostly used in novels and historic books.

Examples:

Quando Gigi conobbe Alice si innamorò a prima vista.
When Gigi met Alice he fell in love at first sight.

Lo conobbi quando vivevo a Napoli.
I met him when I lived in Naples.

I miei genitori si conobbero durante un viaggio all’estero.
My father and mother met on a trip abroad.

Conoscere Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io ebbi conosciuto

Tu avesti conosciuto

Lui/lei ebbe conosciuto

Noi avemmo conosciuto

Voi aveste conosciuto

Loro ebbero conosciuto

You will never ever hear someone using Trapassato Remoto in the spoken language. It’s a compound tense, formed by an auxiliary verb in Passato Remoto and Participio Passato. For the verb conoscere we use avere as an auxiliary verb.

Examples:

Dopo che ebbe conosciuto Alice Gigi si divorziò.
After he met Alice Gigi, he got divorced.

Cominciai a imparare l’italiano dopo che ebbi conosciuto una ragazza italiana.
I started learning Italian after I met an Italian girl.

Conoscere Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

Io conoscerò

Tu conoscerai

Lui/lei conoscerà

Noi conosceremo

Voi conoscerete

Loro conosceranno

The Future tense in Italian is Futuro Semplice. We use it to indicate an action that will happen at some point in the future.

Examples:

Stasera finalmente conoscerete il mio nuovo ragazzo Andrea.
Tonight you will finally meet my new boyfriend Andrea

Non conosceranno Matteo perché non vengono.
They won’t meet Matthew because they don’t come

Il mondo ti conoscerà presto.
The world will know you soon

Conoscere Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io avrò conosciuto

Tu avrai conosciuto

Lui/lei avrà conosciuto

Noi avremo conosciuto

Voi avrete conosciuto

Loro avranno conosciuto

Another Future Tense in Italian is Futuro Anteriore. It reveals the action that will be finished before another future action.

Example:

Quando tornerò ti porterò il regalo che ti avrò comprato.
When I will return, I’ll bring you a gift I will have bought you.

Conoscere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Io conosca

Tu conosca

Lui/lei conosca

Noi conosciamo

Voi conosciate

Loro conoscano

When you want to express your thoughts, opinions and something that is not certain, you have to use Congiuntivo. It’s like Subjunctive mode in English, but unlike in English, the subjunctive mode in Italian is used very often. There are four Subjunctive modes in Italian: Congiuntivo Presente, Congiuntivo Passato, Congiuntivo Imperfetto and Congiuntivo Trapassato.

Examples:

Credo che nessuno lo conosca veramente.
I don’t think anyone really knows him

Non credo che loro conoscano dottor Rossi.
I don’t think they know Dr. Rossi

Immagino che conosciate bene vostro padre.
I guess you know your father well.

Conoscere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Io abbia conosciuto

Tu abbia conosciuto

Lui/lei abbia conosciuto

Noi abbiamo conosciuto

Voi abbiate conosciuto

Loro abbiano conosciuto

Examples:

E’ uno dei migliori scrittori che abbia mai conosciuto.
He is one of the best writers I have ever met

Mi spiace che i tuoi figli non abbiano conosciuto il nonno.
I’m sorry your children didn’t meet their grandfather.

Sembra che abbiate già conosciuto la sorella di Carla.
Looks like you’ve already met Carla’s sister.

Conoscere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Io conoscessi

Tu conoscessi

Lui/lei conoscesse

Noi conoscessimo

Voi conosceste

Loro conoscessero

Examples:

Pensavo che conoscessero le nostre regole.
I thought they knew our rules.

Vorrei che conoscessi il mio nuovo vicino, Stefano.
I would like you to meet my new neighbor, Stefano.

Se conoscessimo la verità, non ci piacerebbe.
If we knew the truth, we wouldn’t like it.

Conoscere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Io avessi conosciuto

Tu avessi conosciuto

Lui/lei avesse conosciuto

Noi avessimo conosciuto

Voi aveste conosciuto

Loro avessero conosciuto

Examples:

Se avessi conosciuto Marco, ti sarebbe piaciuto.
If you had met Marco, you would have liked him.

Credevo che lo aveste già conosciuto alla festa di Anna.
I thought you had already met him at Anna’s party.

Non ce l’avremmo fatta se non avessimo conosciuto lei.
We wouldn’t have made it if we hadn’t met her.

Conoscere Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Io conoscerei

Tu conosceresti

Lui/lei conoscerebbe

Noi conosceremmo

Voi conoscereste

Loro conoscerebbero

Condizionale is used to express polite requests, advice, wishes and hypotheses. It can be in the present (Condizionale Presente) and in the past (Condizionale Passato). It’s equal to English form would + verb.

Examples:

Se leggessi più libri in inglese conoscerei meglio la lingua.
If I read more books in English I would know the language better

Tu conosceresti Eros Ramazzoti se avessi l’opportunità?
Would you meet Eros Ramazzoti if you had the opportunity?

Conosceremmo volentieri la tua nuova ragazza!
We would love to meet your new girlfriend!

Conoscere Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io avrei conosciuto

Tu avresti conosciuto

Lui/lei avrebbe conosciuto

Noi avremmo conosciuto

Voi avreste conosciuto

Loro avrebbero conosciuto

Examples:

Se non foste venuti in Italia, non avreste conosciuto Mario.
If you hadn’t come to Italy, you wouldn’t have met Mario.

Mi ha detto che avrebbe conosciuto i miei amici.
He told me that he was going to meet my friends.

Conoscere Conjugation – Imperativo

Conosci (Tu)

Conosca (Lei)

Conosciamo (Noi)

Conoscete (Voi)

Conoscano (Loro)

The Imperativo is a mode you use when you want to express command or request. By the way it is rarely used in modern Italian.

Conoscere Conjugation – Infinito

Present Tense	Past Tense
Conoscere	Aver conosciuto

The Infinito is the basic form of a verb. In italian verbs in infinito have 3 forms: the one that ends in -are, the one that ends in -ere, and the one with -ire. Infinito can be in the present and in the past.

Examples:

Prima di conoscere Andrea non sapevo cosa fosse il vero amore.
Before I met Andrea, I didn’t know what true love was.

Sono molto felice di aver conosciuto una persona così gentile.
I am very happy to have met such a nice person.

Conoscere Conjugation – Participio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Conoscente	Conosciuto

Participio in the present of the verb conoscere it’s mostly used as a noun, meaning a person whom one knows slightly, an acquaintance. The form Conosciuto, which is the Participio Passato of conoscere, is a part of every compound tense in conoscere conjugation. It can also be used as an adjective and in that case it means well-known, famous.

Examples:

Conoscere Conjugation – Gerundio

Un nostro conoscente ha detto che parteciperà al prossimo concorso culinario.
One of our acquaintances said he will be entering the next cooking competition.

È un dato poco conosciuto, ma è la verità.
It’s a little-known fact, but it’s the truth.

Present Tense	Past Tense
Conoscendo	Avendo conosciuto

Gerundio is the mood you can easily recognise. It ends in -ando or in -endo.

Examples:

Conoscendo mia madre, non partirà senza salutarsi.
Knowing my mother, she won’t leave without saying goodbye.

Avendo conosciuto il tuo ragazzo, direi che avete una relazione splendida.
Having met your boyfriend, I would say you have a wonderful relationship.

Conoscere Vs Sapere

As we already said at the beginning, the verb conoscere literally means to know. If you already started learning Italian you are probably familiar with the verb sapere which also means to know. However, these two verbs are not quite synonyms and there’s a difference between them.

Sapere

Basically, sapere means to know something, and conoscere means to know someone. Sapere refers to the knowledge about a fact or a situation. Also it means to be able to do something.

Here are some examples for you:

So suonare la chitarra.
I can play the guitar.
It means that I know how to play the guitar, I’m able to play it.

Sappiamo che Anna è uscita con Marco.
We know that Anna went out with Marco.
It means that we know the fact that Anna went out with Marco.

Conoscere

Conoscere refers to knowing someone, meeting someone for the first time or being familiar with some place.

Let me show you some examples:

Conosci Andrea, il ragazzo di Alice? Certo che lo conosco, è il mio compagno di scuola.
Do you know Andrea, Alice’s boyfriend? Of course I know him, he’s my schoolmate.
It means that I know Andrea, I know that person.

Abbiamo finalmente conosciuto tua madre.
We finally met your mother.
It means that we met your mother for the first time.

Non conosco bene questa zona, forse è meglio chiedere a qualcun altro.
I’m not familiar with this area, so maybe it’s better to ask someone else.
It means that I’m not familiar with this place

Now that you know all Conoscere Conjugations and you know the exact meaning of the verb, you are ready to dive into the Italian language.

In bocca al lupo!

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.

August 21, 2021/by Lucia

Italian Grammar

Uscire Conjugation – The Complete Guide!

Uscire Conjugation will be quite useful on your next trip to Italy. Wanna know how?

Let’s find out!

What does Uscire means?

The verb uscire means to leave, to exit but can have different uses and meanings such as to come out, to emerge, to publish, to go out, to date. Also, you will encounter the word uscita (exit) at every public place in Italy and it is very important not to mix up with the sign entrata (entry.) Uscire is a verb of the third conjugation that ends in -ire but it is also an irregular verb which don’t follow the rules for constructions of the tenses.

So, you should learn all tenses and uses of Uscire Conjugation.

As we have said, irregular verbs are mostly the reason why students think that Italian grammar is difficult, but I promise you that it’s not.

Let’s break that prejudice and see how to use uscire in different tenses.

Uscire Conjugation – Presente

Uscire Conjugation – How to Say to Leave In Italian

Io esco

Tu esci

Lui/lei esce

Noi usciamo

Voi uscite

Loro escono

As an irregular verb, uscire has its own forms in Present Simple. In italian Presente is used to express the present moment.

Examples:

Stasera esco con Giulia, vieni con noi?
I’m going out tonight with Giulia, are you coming with us?

Ogni sera usciamo e incontriamo nuova gente.
Every night we go out and meet new people.

Rimane asciutto anche quando esce dall’acqua.
It stays dry even when it comes out of the water.

Uscire Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io sono uscito/a

Tu sei uscito/a

Lui/lei è uscito/a

Noi siamo usciti/e

Voi siete usciti/e

Loro sono usciti/e

Uscire is a verb of movement. That means that in compound tenses it has to use the auxiliary verb essere. Passato Prossimo is the first compound tense you’ll learn in Italian. It’s used to describe the actions that happened and finished in the recent past.

Passato Prossimo of the verb uscire is formed by the auxiliary verb essere in the present and past participle of uscire.

Don’t forget to change past participle in gender and number!

Examples:

Ieri sera sono uscita con i miei amici e mi sono divertita un sacco.
I went out with my friends last night and had a great time.

Quando siete usciti avete visto Marco?
When you went out did you see Marco?

Mi dispiace, non è qui, è appena uscito fuori.
Sorry, he’s not here, he just came out.

Uscire Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io uscivo

Tu uscivi

Lui/lei usciva

Noi uscivamo

Voi uscivate

Loro uscivano

Along with Passato Prossimo, Imperfetto is one of the most used past tense in Italian. When you want to describe something that happened in the past you’ll need this tense. You’ll use Imperfetto also when you want to talk about your past habits or the actions occurring at the same time.

Examples:

Da bambina uscivo di nascosto quasi ogni giorno .
I used to sneak out almost every day as a child.

La luce usciva in ogni direzione.
Light was coming out in every direction.

Li ho visti mentre uscivano da casa.
I saw them leaving the house.

Uscire Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Io ero uscito/a

Tu eri uscito/a

Lui/lei era uscito/a

Noi eravamo usciti/e

Voi eravate usciti/e

Loro erano usciti/e

Another past tense you’ll use while speaking is Trapassato Prossimo. Use it when you want to talk about an event that happened before another one in the past. To form it, put the verb essere in the Imperfetto and add past participle of verb uscire.

Examples:

Mi ha chiamato ma ero già uscito fuori.
He called me but I had already gone outside.

Sapevo che era uscito da prigione, ma non mi aspettavo di vederlo qua.
I knew he was out of prison, but I didn’t expect to see him here.

Sapevi che erano usciti insieme già due volte?
Did you know they had dated twice before?

Uscire Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Io uscii

Tu uscisti

Lui/lei uscì

Noi uscimmo

Voi usciste

Loro uscirono

On the other hand, you won’t use Passato Remoto while speaking. But if you are a booklover, get familiar with this tense because you will see it in the novels, for sure.

Examples:

Quando uscii mi dissero che non potevo più giocare.
When I got out they told me I couldn’t play anymore.

La famiglia reale uscì sul balcone.
The royal family came out onto the balcony.

Entrambi i libri uscirono nel 1795.
Both books came out in 1795.

Uscire Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io fui uscito/a

Tu fosti uscito/a

Lui/lei fu uscito/a

Noi fummo usciti/e

Voi foste usciti/e

Loro furono usciti/e

Trapassato Remoto is a compound tense. It’s made by the passato remoto of an auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb. It’s always used in the sentence with Passato Remoto to express an action that happened before.

Examples:

Dopo che fui uscito con Aurora, la sposai.
After I dated Aurora, I married her.

Quando furono usciti per strada, videro il loro vicino.
When they were out on the street, they saw their neighbor.

Dopo che fummo usciti, decisi di non chiamarlo più.
After we dated, I decided not to call him again.

Uscire Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

Io uscirò

Tu uscirai

Lui/lei uscirà

Noi usciremo

Voi uscirete

Loro usciranno

To talk about the future in Italian you’ll need Futuro Semplice. The future tense in Italian is formed by modifying the verb endings, unlike in English where it is formed by adding will.

Examples:

Quando uscirà il tuo libro?
When is your book coming out?

Un giorno usciremo insieme e lei vedrà che sono simpatico.
One day we’ll hang out and she’ll see that I’m nice.

Cosa hai deciso? Uscirai con Federico?
What have you decided? Will you go out with Federico?

Uscire Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io sarò uscito/a

Tu sarai uscito/a

Lui/lei sarà uscito/a

Noi saremo usciti/e

Voi sarete usciti/e

Loro saranno usciti/e

Futuro Anteriore is another future tense in Italian. It’s a compound tense, made by the verb essere in Futuro Semplice and past participle of the verb uscire. You have to use this tense to express anteriority in the future or when you want to make an assumption or hypothesis of something that could have happened in the past.

Examples:

Dopo che sarai uscito di casa, mi telefonerai e mi spiegherai cosa è successo.
After you leave the house, you will call me and explain what happened.

Appena che sarete usciti, chiamateci.
As soon as you are out, call us.

Quando saranno usciti, potrò vestirmi.
When they come out, I can get dressed.

Uscire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Io esca

Tu esca

Lui/lei esca

Noi usciamo

Voi usciate

Loro escano

Subjunctive is a mode that links subordinate clauses and main clauses when in the main clause we have the verbs that express doubts, opinions, emotions, hopes and so on. Rarely used in English, but in Italian you will encounter on Congiuntivo very frequently.

There are four different tenses in Italian Congiuntivo: Congiuntivo Presente, Congiuntivo Passato, Congiuntivo Imperfetto and Congiuntivo Trapassato.

Let’s start with Congiuntivo Presente.

Examples:

Mio padre non vuole che io esca con lui.
My dad doesn’t want me to date him.

Speriamo che usciate presto da questa brutta situazione.
We hope you get out of this bad situation soon.

Aspettiamo che il sole esca.
We just wait for the sun to come out.

Uscire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Io sia uscito/a

Tu sia uscito/a

Lui/lei sia uscito/a

Noi siamo usciti/e

Voi siate usciti/e

Loro siano usciti/e

Examples:

La tua ragazza pensa che tu sia uscito con il tuo collega ieri.
Your girlfriend thinks you went out with your coworker yesterday.

E’ bello che siate uscite a passeggiare un po’.
It’s nice that you got out for a little walk.

Penso che il suo libro sia già uscito.
I think that her book is already out.

Uscire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Io uscissi

Tu uscissi

Lui/lei uscisse

Noi uscissimo

Voi usciste

Loro uscissero

Check out these examples:

Non volevo che uscissi di casa e dovessi scoprirlo da qualcun altro.
I didn’t want you to leave the house and have to find out from someone else.

Non volevi che Sofia uscisse con me.
You didn’t want Sofia to go out with me.

Ho dovuto aspettare che i miei uscissero.
I had to wait until my parents went out.

Uscire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Io fossi uscito/a

Tu fossi uscito/a

Lui/lei fosse uscito/a

Noi fossimo usciti/e

Voi foste usciti/e

Loro fossero usciti/e

Examples:

Vorrei che fossimo usciti insieme.
I wish we had dated.

Cosa fai qui? Pensavo che fossi già uscito.
What are you doing here? I thought you’d already left.

Sembrava che non fossero usciti dalla stanza da giorni.
They looked like they hadn’t left the room in days.

Uscire Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Io uscirei

Tu usciresti

Lui/lei uscirebbe

Noi usciremmo

Voi uscireste

Loro uscirebbero

Condizionale, or the italian conditional tense, is a mood you’ll need when you want to be polite. Also you have to use this mode to express wishes, assumptions and doubt. It can be in the past and in the present.

Let’s start with Condizionale Presente.

Examples:

Ti sembra un tipo con cui uscirei?
Does he seem like a guy I’d go out with?

Secondo te tua sorella uscirebbe con me?
Do you think your sister would go out with me?

Se non ci fosse la pioggia, usciremmo.
If there wasn’t rain, we’d go out.

Uscire Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io sarei uscito/a

Tu saresti uscito/a

Lui/lei sarebbe uscito/a

Noi saremmo usciti/e

Voi sareste usciti/e

Loro sarebbero usciti/e

Examples:

Se avesse potuto, sarebbe uscita da questa brutta situazione.
If she could have, she would have gotten out of this bad situation.

E’ stato rilevato che il libro sarebbe uscito il 11 novembre.
It was revealed that the book would be released on November 11.

Pensavo che non ne saremmo usciti vivi.
I thought we wouldn’t get out of this alive.

Uscire Conjugation – Imperativo

Esci (Tu)

Esca (Lei)

Usciamo (Noi)

Uscite (Voi)

Escano (Loro)

Imperative in Italian, as in English, is used to give commands and orders. If you want to require that some action be performed, use Imperativo.

Examples:

Usciamo, dai!
Let’s go out, come on!

Sono molto arrabbiata, esci dalla mia stanza!
I am very angry, get out of my room!

Uscire Conjugation – Infinito

Present Tense	Past Tense
Uscire	Essere uscito

Examples:

Scusa, non ce la faccio a uscire stasera.
Sorry, I can’t make it out tonight.

Sono felice di essere uscito da quel posto.
I’m glad I got out of that place.

Uscire Conjugation – Participio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Uscente	Uscito

The present participle in Italian of the verb uscire is uscente. It’s used as an adjective and means outgoing or ending. The past participle of uscire is uscito. It’s a part of every compound tense. When used in the feminine it means exit.

Examples:

Il presidente uscente lascia il potere.
Outgoing president leaves power.

Potrebbe trattarsi di qualcuno uscito di recente di prigione.
This could be someone recently released from prison.

Uscire Conjugation – Gerundio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Uscendo	Essendo uscito

Gerund is used often in the Italian language. If you want to know everything about italian gerundio check out this article.

Examples:

Uscendo dalla stazione, ho visto un mio vecchio amico.
Coming out of the station, I saw an old friend of mine.

Essendo uscito dall’ufficio velocemente, Matteo ha dimenticato i documenti.
Having left the office quickly, Matteo forgot his papers.

Different Uses Of the Verb Uscire In Italian

Now that you have understood conjugation of all its tenses, let see different meanings of the verb uscire in Italian:

1. Uscire means to exit, to leave

Example:

Sono uscito dall’albergo e ho visitato il museo.
I left the hotel and visited the museum.

2. Uscire means to come out, to emerge

Examples:

Da dove è uscito questo gatto?
Where did this cat come from?

Da questa fabbrica escono oltre 300 mila veicoli all’anno.
More than 300,000 vehicles per year come out of this factory.

3. Uscire means to publish

Example:

Ragazzi, è uscito il mio nuovo libro.
Guys, my new book is published.

4. Uscire means to go out

Examples:

Esci stasera con noi? Dai, andiamo al cinema.
Will you go out with us tonight? Come on, we are going to the cinema.

Stasera non mi va di uscire.
I don’t feel like going out tonight.

5. Uscire means to date

Examples:

Vuoi uscire con me?
Do you want to date me?

Sono uscita ieri con Stefano, ma non mi è piaciuto.
I dated Stefano yesterday, but I was not impressed.

Now when you know how to conjugate the verb uscire you are able to call your italian friends to go out. Or maybe to ask some italian girl or boy to go on a date.

In bocca al lupo! Good luck!

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.

August 16, 2021/by Lucia

Italian Grammar

Dare Conjugation – How To Use to give In Italian

Dare conjugation is extremely important to learn because in Italy we use the verb dare very often in everyday conversation.

The literal translation of the verb dare is to give. It also has other meanings, such as to show / to perform, to yield / to produce. In some context dare also means “to face”, “to look at”. When it’s used as a reflexive verb it means “devote yourself”. Also, there are a lot of Italian Idioms with dare, such as “dare un’occhiata”, “dare il cinque” or “dare i numeri”, that are used everyday in Italy.

So, if you want to know how use the verb dare, first you need to learn how to conjugate it in all its tenses!

Then keep reading this article until the end!

Dare Conjugation – Presente Indicativo

Io do

Tu dai

Lui/lei dà

Noi diamo

Voi date

Loro danno

We use Presente when we want to talk about the present. When we want to express actions or state that we’re experiencing right now. The equivalent of this verb in English would be Present Simple. It’s simple, right?

Let’s see some examples:

Ti do il mio numero di telefono, puoi scrivere?
I give you my phone number, can you write it down?

Diamo un’altra opportunità a tua sorella.
We give your sister another chance.

Mi dai un minuto, per favore?
Can you give me a minute, please?

And if you want to repeat all Italian tenses here is a useful books for you:

Dare Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io ho dato

Tu hai dato

Lui/lei ha dato

Noi abbiamo dato

Voi avete dato

Loro hanno dato

Passato prossimo is the first compound tense you’ll encounter in the Italian language. It’s like Past Simple in English. Use this tense when you want to talk about actions that happened in the past. As we said, it’s a compound verb, so we’ll need an auxiliary verb. In this case, e use the verb avere because the verb dare is a transitive verb and it takes a direct object.

Examples:

Mi hai dato un consiglio sincero, grazie.
You gave me honest advice, thank you.

Le abbiamo già dato dei soldi, cosa vuole adesso?
We already gave her money, what does she want now?

Gli hanno dato le medicine, e adesso sta meglio.
They gave him medication, and he’s better now.

Dare Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io davo

Tu davi

Lui/lei dava

Noi davamo

Voi davate

Loro davano

Along with Passato Prossimo, Imperfetto is the most used past tense in Italian. You’ll need this tense when you want to describe something that happened in the past.

Examples:

Ti davo buoni consigli, ma non ne hai seguito nessuno.
I gave you good advice, but you didn’t follow any of it.

Mentre davo il resto ad un cliente mi sono accorto che una moneta era falsa.
While giving change to a customer I realized that one coin was fake.

Alcuni davano la colpa all’inquinamento.
Some people blamed pollution.

Dare Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Io avevo dato

Tu avevi dato

Lui/lei aveva dato

Noi avevamo dato

Voi avevate dato

Loro avevano dato

To express an activity that happened before another one in the past you need to use Trapassato Prossimo. Like Passato Prossimo, this is a compound tense. You form it with the verb avere in Imperfetto and Participio Passato of the verb dare: dato.

Examples:

Mi aveva dato la macchina e quindi potevo partire per le vacanze.
He had given me the car so I could leave for vacation.

Abbiamo scoperto che la risposta che avevi dato non aveva nessun senso.
We discovered that the answer you had given made no sense at all.

Dare Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Io diedi

Tu desti

Lui diede/dette

Noi demmo

Voi deste

Loro diedero/dettero

Passato Remoto is the past tense that describes the action that happened and finished in the past. This tense is the one that has many irregularities which make him look difficult. Don’t worry about that because it’s not very used in the spoken language. You’ll mostly find it in literature or newspapers.

Examples:

Mi desti cinque dollari per non dirlo a nessuno.
You gave me five dollars not to tell anyone.

Picasso diede forma alla tragedia dipingendo Guernica.
Picasso gave form to the tragedy by painting Guernica.

Dobbiamo solo darle una possibilità, come voi la deste a me.
We just need to give her a chance, like you gave me a chance.

Dare Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io ebbi dato

Tu avesti dato

Lui ebbe dato

Noi avemmo dato

Voi aveste dato

Loro ebbero dato

The Passato Remoto of the verb dare is formed in this way: the verb avere in the Passato Remoto + Participio Passato of the verb dare. It’s only used to express the action that happened before another action expressed in Passato Remoto.

Look at these examples:

Dopo che la Spagna ebbe dato la sua approvazione, i documenti furono spediti da Madrid a Bruxelles.
After Spain had given its approval, the documents were sent from Madrid to Brussels.

Dopo che mi avesti dato questa terribile notizia, cominciai a pinagere.
After you told me this terrible news, I started to cry.

Dare Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

Io darò

Tu darai

Lui/lei darà

Noi daremo

Voi darete

Loro daranno

Futuro Semplice or Future Simple in English it’s used to express future events.

Examples:

Quando starà meglio, le darò una bambola.
When she gets better, I’ll give her a doll.

Questo sforzo adesso darà sicuramente risultati positivi in futuro.
This effort now will surely give positive results in the future.

Questa è la descrizione che darete alla polizia.
This is the description you will give to the police.

Dare Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io avrò dato

Tu avrai dato

Lui/lei avrà dato

Noi avremo dato

Voi avrete dato

Loro avranno dato

There is another future tense in Italian. It’s called Futuro Anteriore. It’s used to make an assumption or to express the action that will be finished before another one takes place.

Examples:

Non aprirlo finché non ti avrò dato ulteriori istruzioni.
Do not open it until I give you further instructions.

Dopo che ti avrà dato le chiavi, potrai usare la macchina.
After he gives you the keys, you can use the car.

Gli avranno dato il farmaco sbagliato.
They must have given him the wrong medication.

Dare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Che io dia

Che tu dia

Che lui/lei dia

Che noi diamo

Che voi diate

Che loro diano

It’s not that easy to express your opinion in Italian. You have to make some effort and put your sentences in Congiuntivo. It’s like Subjunctive mode in English, but unlike in English in Italian Congiuntivo is far more used. There are 4 different Subjunctive modes in Italian: Congiuntivo Presente, Congiuntivo Passato, Congiuntivo Imperfetto and Congiuntivo Trapassato.

Let’s see some examples for Congiuntivo Presente:

Non trova un lavoro che dia significato alla sua vita.
He can’t find a job that gives his life meaning.

Gli alunni vogliono che l’insegnante dia un esempio.
Students want the teacher to give an example.

Voglio che diate un’occhiata al mio libro.
I want you to check out my book.

Dare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Che io abbia dato

Che tu abbia dato

Che lui/lei abbia dato

Che noi abbiamo dato

Che voi abbiate dato

Che loro abbiano dato

Examples:

Penso che tu gli abbia dato abbastanza soldi.
I think you gave them enough money.

E’ bello che mi abbiate dato qualche speranza.
It’s nice that you’ve given me some hope.

Nonostante che gli abbiamo dato il permesso, hanno deciso di non sposarsi.
Despite the fact that we gave them permission, they decided not to get married.

Dare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Che io dessi

Che tu dessi

Che lui/lei desse

Che noi dessimo

Che voi deste

Che loro dessero

Examples:

Vorrei solo che gli dessi un’opportunità.
I just wish you would give him a chance.

Non era necessario che mi dessero i soldi.
They didn’t have to give me the money.

Se ci deste un po’ di tempo, potremmo preparare un bel pranzo.
If you give us some time, we could make a nice lunch.

Dare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Che io avessi dato

Che tu avessi dato

Che lui/lei avesse dato

Che noi avessimo dato

Che voi aveste dato

Che loro avessero dato

Examples:

Come se le avessi dato scelta.
As if you gave her a choice.

Se mi aveste dato l’opportunità, vi avrei spiegato tutto.
If you had given me the opportunity, I would have explained everything.

Pensavo che ti avessero dato già qualcosa da mangiare.
I thought they already gave you something to eat.

Dare Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Io darei

Tu daresti

Lui/lei darebbe

Noi daremmo

Voi dareste

Loro darebbero

If you want to be polite in Italian you can use Condizionale. Use it also to express your wishes or hypothesis. Condizionale can be in the present: Condizionale Presente or in the past: Condizionale Passato.

Examples:

Darebbe tutto per poter stare accanto a lei.
He would give anything to be next to her.

Mi daresti una mano in cucina?
Would you help me out in the kitchen?

Darei qualsiasi cosa al mondo per vederla felice.
I would give anything in the world to see her happy.

Dare Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io avrei dato

Tu avresti dato

Lui/lei avrebbe dato

Noi avremmo dato

Voi avreste dato

Loro avrebbero dato

Examples:

Mi ha detto che avrebbe dato tutto per lei.
He told me he would give everything for her.

Se avessimo avuto più tempo, vi avremmo dato una mano.
If we had more time, we would have helped you out.

Dare Conjugation – Imperativo

Da’ / Dai (Tu)

Dia (Lei)

Diamo (Noi)

Date (Voi)

Diano (Loro)

On the other hand, if you don’t want to be polite anymore and you want to start giving orders you’ll need Imperativo.

Take a look at these examples:

Devo sapere dove sei, dammi l’indirizzo per favore.
I need to know where you are, give me the address please.

Datemi un’altra possibilità, questa volta non sbaglierò.
Give me another chance, this time I won’t fail.

Avere Conjugation – Infinito

Present Tense	Past Tense
Dare	Aver dato

Dare is the basic form of the verb. Aver dato is the infinitive in the past.

Examples:

Non è facile dare un’altra chance a una persona che ti ha tradito.
It is not easy to give another chance to someone who has betrayed you.

Non posso perdonarti per aver dato il mio posto ad Alice.
I can’t forgive you for giving my position to Alice.

Avere Conjugation – Participio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Dante	Dato

The Participio Presente of the verb dare is dante, but probabily you will never use it. In fact, Dante it’s only used as a proper name: have you ever heard about Dante Alighieri? He is considered the father of the Italian language!

On the other hand, the Participio Passato of the verb dare is dato and it’s very used as the part of every compound tense in the conjugation of dare.

Examples:

Dante Alighieri è stato un poeta, scrittore e politico italiano.
Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet, writer and politician.

Il capo mi ha dato un ordine preciso.
The boss gave me a specific order.

Avere Conjugation – Gerundio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Dando	Avendo dato

Gerundio has different uses. It’s rarely used in the spoken language, except in the present progressive. To clarify this, check out this article.

Examples:

E’ ora di insegnarli dando un buon esempio.
It’s time to teach them by setting a good example.

Avendo dato tutto ai poveri, non aveva più niente.
Having given everything to the poor, he was left with nothing.

Different Meanings Of Dare In Italian:

Dare Conjugation - Meanings of dare in Italian

The literal translation of the verb dare is to give.

Example:

Ti darò un regalo.
I’ll give you a gift.

But, as we have said, the verb dare in Italian also has other meanings and uses, such as:

to show /to perform
to yield / to produce
to face / to look at
to devote yourself

Let’s see some of these eamples.

1. Dare Meaning “To Show / To Perform”

Example:

Danno ancora quel film al cinema?
Do they still show that movie in the cinema?

2. Dare Meaning “To Yield / To Produce”

Examples:

Gli investimenti hanno dato un rendimento positivo del 2,5%.
Investments yielded a positive return of 2.5%.

Quest’anno il frutteto di Carlo ha dato molti frutti.
This year, Carlo’s orchard bore a lot of fruit.

3. Dare Meaning “To face / To look at”

Examples:

La mia camera ha una splendida vista che dà sul mare.
My room has a beautiful view that looks onto the sea.

4. Dare Meaning “devote yourself”

Examples:

Angela ha deciso di darsi alla scuola.
Angela decided to dedicate herself to the school.

Italian Idioms With Dare

Italians often use idiomatic expressions in the spoken language. The verb dare also appears in many of them. Let’s see which ones are the most popular:

Italian	English
dare un’occhiata	to have a look
dare fastidio	to annoy
dare il cinque	to give a high five
dare i numeri	to go crazy
dare fuoco	to light a fire
dare ragione	to agree with someone
dare torto	to disagree with someone
dare un esame	to take an exam
dare da mangiare	to feed
dare il via	to initiate
dare per scontato	to take something or someone for granted
darsi per vinto	to give up
dare la colpa	to blame

Dare is one of the essential verbs you’ll need to start speaking italian. So don’t waste anymore time and learn all the dare conjugations! If you like to learn with music listen up this classic italian song:

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.

August 9, 2021/by Lucia

Italian Grammar, Lessons

How to Say Why in Italian? – 10 Common Expressions

Learning to say why in Italian is one of the first things to keep in mind when starting a conversation.

In fact, you realize that you could sometimes bump into incomplete sentences in case this word is missing.

The most popular term to express why in Italian is perché. Perché can be intended as an interrogative adverb when making questions; on the contrary, it becomes a causal conjunction in presence of answers. It is basically used when you hope to get more information about something that happened to you or someone else. According to the type of words preceding or following perché, you are able to stress more or less what you mean. In other cases, you can resort to different but still valid options like come mai, per quale motivo, a che scopo and so on.

Soon I’ll show you some of the most common ways to translate why in Italian.

Shall we begin?

before going any further, I also suggest you to refresh Italian Grammar with one of these useful books:

10 Common Ways to Say Why in Italian:

Here below you can find a list of 10 common ways of saying why in Italian and all different uses of perché in context:

Perché?
Perché no! / Perché no?
E perché?
Perché mai?
Come mai?
Per quale motivo? / Per quale ragione?
A che scopo? / A che pro?
Il perché
Ma dai! / Suvvia!
Beh / Che dire

Let’s see them together more closely:

1. Perché?

Let’s start with perché, which is one of the most widespread expressions to translate why in Italian. Generally, we use it when seeking explanations about someone’s actions or finding the reason why something is happening or just occured.

Examples:

Perché Giada non è venuta? La stavamo aspettando.
Why didn’t Giada come? We were waiting for her.

Perché non mi hai detto nulla? Avrei potuto aiutarti!
Why didn’t you tell me anything? I could have helped you!

Fun fact: do you know the famous song La partita di pallone by Italian singer Rita Pavone? Well, try to guess how many times the word perché repeats itself in the song! Did you manage? Almost 14 times!

2. Perché no! and Perché no?

Secondly, you need to know that perché can be followed by no in two specific cases.

In the first one, it appears when you support someone’s proposal/idea of doing something. As you can see, this is the case we use an exclamation: perché no!
In the second one, it occurs when you ask for explanations about something you were not allowed to do. Its equivalent in English is why not and as you can notice we use question mark: perché no?

Examples:

Ma perché non andiamo in centro più tardi? – Sì, perché no!
Why don’t we go downtown later? – Sure, why not!

Ti ho già detto che non puoi uscire stasera. – Uffa, perché no?
I already told you that you cannot go out tonight. – Ugh, why not?

3. E perché?

Furthermore, perché meaning why in Italian can be preceded by the conjunction e when expressing interest in something or somebody’s choices.

Examples:

Antonio ti ha chiesto di incontrarlo? E perché?
Did Antonio ask you to meet him? Why?

Isabella ha deciso di lasciare il lavoro? E perché?
Did Isabella decide to leave her job? Why?

Make sure not to confuse e as conjunction with è as the third person singular of the verb essere (to be).

4. Perché mai?

Perché mai? - Italian translation of Why

On the contrary, perché followed by the adverb mai (never) conveys the idea that you are investigating the reason for what they just told you. When uttering this expression, a sense of wonder usually arises.

Examples:

Perché mai Jackson ci avrebbe mentito? Non ha senso!
Why would Jackson lie to us? It makes no sense!

Perché mai lo avrebbe cacciato di casa? Che ha fatto di male?
Why would she kick him out? What did he do wrong?

As you may have noticed, the conditional tense has been employed in both sentences. On this occasion, you can just make assumptions about what happened since you don’t know the truth yet.

5. Come mai?

As you can see, in this expression come (how) takes the place of perché. Despite that, the meaning and the use of come mai are pretty much the same as in the preceding case of saying Why in Italian.

Examples:

Come mai non sei venuta alla festa di Gianna ieri sera?
Why didn’t you come to Gianna’s party yesterday night?

Come mai non ti ha voluto dire quello che è successo?
Why didn’t she want to tell you what happened?

Fun fact: in the popular song Come mai by the Italian band 883, you can hear come mai occurring over and over again.

6. Per quale motivo? / Per quale ragione?

Instead, per quale motivo or per quale ragione are great alternatives to indicate why in Italian. Both translate as for which reason. Plus, they are mainly employed when you specifically ask for more information about something that you struggle to understand.

Examples:

Per quale motivo non hai chiamato prima di venire?
Why didn’t you call me before coming over?

Per quale ragione Marika pensa che ce l’abbia con lei?
Why does Marika think I’m mad at her?

7. A che scopo? / a che pro?

Similarly, a che scopo and a che pro can be considered as other important ways to say why in Italian. They mean respectively for what purpose? and what’s the point?. In addition, they are mostly applied in very informal contexts when questioning the reason for someone’s decisions.

Examples:

Vuole vendere la casa e trasferirsi in Canada. Ok, ma a che scopo?
He wishes to sell his house and move to Canada. Ok, but why?

Ti darà il tuo regalo di Natale a Capodanno. Sì, ma a che scopo?
She is going to give you her Christmas present on New Year’s Eve. Yeah, but why?

8. Il perchè

Going on, it’s time to mention another interesting statement standing for why in Italian: il perché. As you can see, it is combined with a definite article. Regarding its usage, it is employed in the same way as the other expressions we saw until now.

Examples:

Oggi la lavastoviglie non funziona e non capisco il perché.
Today the dishwasher doesn’t work and I have no idea why.

Non ha risposto ai miei messaggi e vorrei sapere il perché.
He didn’t reply to my messages and I would like to know why.

Note that:

You can even find il perché in combination with the preposition di (of) in certain circumstances.

Example:

Non si spiegano il perché della nostra scelta.
They can’t explain the why of our decision.

Other possible solutions imply that perché may be replaced by the nouns motivo e causa meaning reason in English.

Example:

Non ho ancora capito il motivo del loro litigio.
I still don’t understand the why of their argument.

9. Ma dai! / Suvvia!

Equally important are the following translations of why in Italian: ma dai and suvvia. These two Italian exclamations are required when you want to highlight the senselessness of what your speaker has just told you.

In English, this concept is clearer since why might be intended as why are you making this obvious question?. Naturally, the question is incomplete and what remains is just why containing the whole meaning.

Examples:

Stai insinuando che ho copiato durante il test? Ma dai, certo che no!
Are you implying that I cheated on the test? Why, of course not!

Ci ha provato con tua moglie? Suvvia, non dire stupidaggini!
Did he flirt with your wife? Why, don’t be silly!

Note that suvvia has now become an old-fashioned word. Indeed, you can find it only in very formal contexts. Nevertheless, the most widespread form is su which lost a part of its components over the years. This interjection is used to exhort somebody to do something by the way.

10. Beh / Che dire

Also beh and che dire have the same meaning and use of the exclamations mentioned earlier. Besides that, they still remain valid alternatives to why in Italian when you are sick of employing why repeatedly.

Examples:

Se sono favorevole al matrimonio omosessuale? Beh, certo!
Am I in favor of same-sex marriage? Why, yes! Of course, I am!

Devono venire anche loro con noi? Che dire, mi sembra ovvio!
Are they coming with us, too? Why, absolutely! It’s pretty clear!

Why in Italian: the indirect interrogative clauses

Why and Because in Italian: the indirect interrogative clauses

Perhaps you already know that some words like how and why must be repeated when replying to questions. In this regard, we are talking about indirect interrogative clauses, primarily existing in the reported speech.

To better understand, this type of subordinate indirectly reports the question word in the answer.

Examples:

Non so perché se ne siano andati via così presto.
I don’t know why they left so early.

Dimmi perché hai disdetto la prenotazione all’ultimo minuto!
Tell me why you canceled our reservation at the last minute!

How to reply to questions: Why and Because in Italian.

This last paragraph might be unuseful to you. Apart from that, I’d like to say a few words on the topic in question anyway. As you know, one of the differences between the English and Italian languages is the use of why and because. In English, why is applied in questions, whereas because in answers. On the contrary, why in Italian is used both in questions and answers. For this reason, Italians usually make mistakes concerning the proper use of why and because in English.

Examples:

Perché stai piangendo, piccolina? – Perché mi manca mamma!
Why are you crying, sweetheart? – Because I miss my mum!

Perché non sei partito con lei? – Perché ieri ci siamo lasciati.
Why didn’t you go with her? – Because we broke up yesterday.

Learned how to build sentences with why in Italian? Well, now try to ask your Italian friend come mai you haven’t heard from him recently!

By: Alfonso Di Somma

Born and raised in Italy, he is an Italian professional translator and a tireless traveler. His main passion? Foreign languages!

August 7, 2021/by Alfonso Di Somma

Italian Grammar

Stare Conjugation – How to Use Stare in Italian

To learn Stare Conjugation can be very useful for you if you want to master Italian language because the verb stare is widely used in Italy.

In fact, after essere and avere, the verb stare is the third most popular verb. If you have already learnt the first two, good job: now it’s time to learn the verb stare!

The verb stare literally means to stay, to be in a place (without moving) or to be in a particular condition, but also to live in a place or to be in a relationship. Depending on the situation, it can be translated as: to be, to remain, to stand, to be situated, to sit. Related words to stare are restare (remain), sottostare (submit to someone) and sovrastare (dominate someone). Also, to express what you are doing at the moment, it is used the verb stare and the Italian Gerund.

Usually the students don’t like to study stare conjugation because it’s irregular. But if you want to speak Italian fluently you have to learn all irregular verbs, including stare! Note also that another difficulty is that the verb stare can be confused with the verb essere. If you want to learn what is the difference between essere and stare check this article out carefully.

So, as you have seen, stare it’s a pretty important verb. Now it’s time to learn how to conjugate it:

Stare Conjugation – Presente

Stare Conjugation - how to say to stay in Italian

As we mentioned before, the verb stare is irregular. We already know what to do in that case. We should learn the conjugation stare by heart, because it’s not following generic rules of the tense.

Io sto

Tu stai

Lui/ Lei sta

Noi stiamo

Voi state

Loro stanno

The present tense (or simply ‘the present’) is used to state that an action is occurring at the present time. Same as in English.

Let’s see some examples:

Come stai?
How are you?

Sto bene, grazie.
I’m fine thanks.

Mio nonno sta male.
My grandfather isn’t well.

Stefano sta a casa.
Stefano is at home.

La casa sta sulla collina
The house is on the hill.

You may need one of this vocabulary in order to repeat Italian Verbs:

Stare Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io sono stato/a

Tu sei stato/a

Lui/lei è stato/a

Noi siamo stati/e

Voi siete stati/e

Loro sono stati/e

Passato Prossimo is the tense we use to talk about actions we did in the recent past. It’s the main past tense in Italian. It’s compound, which means that you’ll need to use the auxiliary verb essere or avere and past participle. In this case we will use the auxiliary verb essere because stare is an intransitive verb.

Examples:

Sono stata a Napoli due settimane fa.
I was in Naples two weeks ago.

Siamo stati molto preoccupati per voi.
We have been very concerned about you.

Don’t forget to modify past participles according to the gender and number of the subject!

Stare Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io stavo

Tu stavi

Lui/lei stava

Noi stavamo

Voi stavate

Loro stavano

If you want to describe something in the past, talk about feelings or habits in the past you’ll need Imperfetto.

Examples:

Stavo per uscire quando mi ha detto che dovevamo parlare.
I was about to leave when he said we needed to talk.

Quando sono entrato in ufficio, lei non stava scrivendo la mail.
When I entered the office, she wasn’t writing the email.

Che stavate facendo?
What were you doing?

Stare Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Io ero stato/a

Tu eri stato/a

Lui/lei era stato/a

Noi eravamo stati/e

Voi eravate stati/e

Loro erano stati/e

Another compound tense you have to know is Trapassato prossimo. You’ll need this tense when talking about an event that happened in the past before another event in the past.

Examples:

Non ero mai stato in Francia prima.
I had never been to France before.

Ricordi quando eravamo stati in quell’albergo?
Remember when we had stayed at that hotel?

Ieri sei andata alla Galleria degli Uffizi, non ci eri mai stata prima e ti è piaciuta un sacco.
Yesterday you went to the Uffizi Gallery, you had never been there before and you loved it.

Stare Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Io stetti

Tu stesti

Lui/lei stette

Noi stemmo

Voi steste

Loro stettero

What perhaps confuses students the most is choosing the appropriate past tense. Maybe there are a lot of past tenses in italian language, but there is one you don’t have to worry about. It’s Passato Remoto. This tense is mainly used in literature and in the written language, and almost not used while speaking.

Examples:

Nel capanno stemmo tutta la notte.
In a shed we stood all night long.

Da quel giorno in poi, stettero in contatto l’uno con l’altro durante il corso degli anni successivi.
From that day forward, they stayed in touch with each other over the next few years.

Steste qualche mese insieme.
You were a few months together.

Stare Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io fui stato/a

Tu fosti stato/a

Lui/lei fu stato/a

Noi fummo stati/e

Voi foste stati/e

Loro furono stati/e

If stare conjugation in Trapassato Remoto stirs you up, don’t worry! This is the rarest tense in Italian language. You’ll encounter Trapassato Remoto only if you are a bookworm and you want to dive into italian literature.

Stare Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

Io starò

Tu starai

Lui/lei starà

Noi staremo

Voi starete

Loro staranno

On the other hand, Futuro Semplice is quite an important tense. There is no tomorrow without this tense, so don’t miss it! Futuro Semplice is used to describe a future event.

Examples:

Non so ancora quanto tempo starò a Napoli
I don’t know yet how long I will stay in Naples.

Ti starà accanto tutta la serata.
He’ll be by your side all night.

Se domani piove, staremo a casa.
If it rains tomorrow, we’ll stay home.

Stare Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io sarò stato/a

Tu sarai stato/a

Lui/lei sarà stato/a

Noi saremo stati/e

Voi sarete stati/e

Loro saranno stati/e

A future action can also be expressed with Futuro Anteriore. But in this case the action will happen before the Futuro Semplice. Also, we use this tense to express an assumption.

Let’s see some examples:

Il giorno in cui sarà stata a Firenze, le scriverò.
I’m going to write to her once she has arrived in Florence.

Sarò stato un bambino, la prima volta in cui ho visto una partita.
I must have been a kid the first time I watched a game.

Perché Anna e Marco non c’erano alla festa? Saranno stati al lavoro.
Why weren’t Anna and Marco at the party? They must have been at work.

Do you know that in Italian there’s one tense you use when you want to express your opinion, uncertainty, hopes, and fears? Well, it’s Subjunctive Mood or Congiuntivo in italian. It usually comes after che.

Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Che io stia

Che tu stia

Che lui/lei stia

Che noi stiamo

Che voi stiate

Che loro stiano

Examples:

Penso che Anna non mi stia dicendo la verità.
I think Anna is not telling me the truth.

Sembra che stia soffrendo molto.
He seems to be in a lot of pain.

E’ bello che stiano leggendo quel libro insieme.
It’s nice that they’re reading that book together.

Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Che io sia stato/a

Che tu sia stato/a

Che lui/lei sia stato/a

Che noi siamo stati/e

Che voi siate stati/e

Che loro siano stati/e

Examples:

Penso che lui sia stato bravo in matematica.
I think he was good at math.

Non credo che siano stati molto felici all’estero.
I don’t think they were very happy abroad.

Spero che non sia stato un’incidente grave.
I hope it wasn’t a serious accident.

Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Che io stessi

Che tu stessi

Che lui/lei stesse

Che noi stessimo

Che voi steste

Che loro stessero

Examples:

Vorrei che tu non stessi per partire.
I wish you weren’t leaving.

Pensavo che stessimo andando al supermercato.
I thought we were going to the grocery store.

Credo di sapere dove stessero andando.
I think I knew where they were going.

Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Che io fossi stato/a

Che tu fossi stato/a

Che lui/lei fosse stato/a

Che noi fossimo stati/e

Che voi foste stati/e

Che loro fossero stati/e

Examples:

Mi avevi detto di chiamarti, se fossi stato in città.
You told me to call you if I was in town.

Se fossimo stati come loro, avremmo vinto la guerra.
If we had been like them, we would have won the war.

Come se fossimo stati sposati un milione di anni fa.
Like we were married a million years ago.

Stare Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Io starei

Tu staresti

Lui/lei starebbe

Noi staremmo

Voi stareste

Loro starebbero

When you want to express polite requests, advice, wishes or regret, use Condizionale in italian. In English we use would + verb for the same reason.

Examples:

E comunque staresti bene anche con un sacchetto in testa.
And you’d look good with a bag over your head anyway.

Se avessero voluto aiutarci, non staremmo qui a parlarne adesso.
If they had wanted to help us, we wouldn’t be talking about it now.

Magari starei meglio con i nuovi amici.
Maybe I’d be better with new friends.

Stare Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io sarei stato/a

Tu saresti stato/a

Lui/lei sarebbe stato/a

Noi saremmo stati/e

Voi sareste stati/e

Loro sarebbero stati/e

Condizionale Passato is the same thing but in the past. It’s a compound tense, used with avere or essere in Condizionale plus past participle.

Examples:

Sarei stato un avvocato terribile.
I would have been a terrible lawyer.

Sapevo che sarebbe stato più difficile senza lui.
I knew it would be harder without him.

Senza te non sarei mai stato in grado di affrontarlo.
Without you I would never have been able to deal with it.

Stare Conjugation – Imperativo

Sta’/stai (tu)

Stia (Lei)

Stiamo (Noi)

State (Voi)

Stiano (Loro)

If you are a person who likes to give orders and instructions you’ll need Imperativo. We already mentioned that stare is an irregular verb, also here it has its own forms.

Examples:

Sta’ zitto, non sento nulla!
Shut up, I can’t hear anything!

State attenti, ragazzi! Questa lezione è importante!
Be careful, kids! This lesson is important!

Sta’ fermo e tieni in vista le mani.
Stand still and keep your hands in view.

Stare Conjugation – Infinito

Present Tense	Past Tense
Stare	Esser stato

Infinitive is the basic form of a verb. It can be in the present tense or in the past tense.

Examples:

Dobbiamo decidere dove stare a Palermo.
We have to decide where to stay in Palermo.

Il messaggio può esser stato frainteso.
The message may have been misunderstood.

Stare Conjugation – Participio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Stante	Stato

You probably won’t encounter Stante very often. On the other hand, Stato is already familiar to you, as the part of the compound tenses in all stare conjugations.

Examples:

Stante alle tue dichiarazioni mi aspetto un aumento di stipendio a partire dal prossimo mese.
According to your statements I expect a salary increase starting next month.

Mai stato così vicino a raggiungere l’obiettivo.
Never been so close to achieving the goal.

Stare Conjugation – Gerundio

Present Tense	Past Tense
Stando	Essendo stato

Examples:

Stando più attenti alle spese, risparmieremmo più soldi.
By being more careful about spending, we would save more money.

Essendo stato di recente in Francia, posso dirti che è bellissima.
Having recently been to France, I can tell you that it is beautiful.

8 Different Uses Of Stare In Italian

Stare is a very common verb in Italian. Literally can be translated as “to stay” but it has other meanings as well. On some occasions it also means “to be” (same as essere). This can be very confusing, so check out this article to clear up your mind.

Let’s see when we use the verb stare in italian:

1. To ask someone how is he or she:

Example:

Come stai? Sto bene, grazie.
How are you? I’m fine, thank you.

2. To indicate a location:

Examples:

Staremo in Italia questo weekend, ci visitate?
We are staying in Italy this weekend, are you visiting us?

La sede della società sta a Londra.
The company is headquartered in London.

3. To say what are you doing in this moment:

Examples:

Cosa stai facendo? Sto leggendo il libro.
What are you doing? I’m reading the book.

Stavo pulendo la casa quando mi ha chiamato
I was cleaning the house when he called me.

4. To talk about health:

Examples:

Oggi sto proprio male, non posso uscire.
Today I feel really bad, I can’t go out.

Ieri aveva la febbre ma oggi per fortuna sta meglio.
Yesterday he had a fever but today fortunately he is better.

5. As a synonym for the verbs to fit, to suit:

Examples:

Questo vestito ti sta benissimo.
This dress looks great on you.

Non sta più niente nella valigia, è piena!
Nothing more fits in the suitcase, it’s full!

6. To say “I’m in!”, to say that you agree to do something:

Examples:

Andiamo al mare domani? Certo, ci sto!
Are we going to the beach tomorrow? Sure, I’m in!

Ci stai a cenare insieme stasera?
Are you in for dinner tonight?

7. To be about to do something – stare + per + infinito:

Examples:

Sta per piovere.
It’s going to rain.

Sto per uscire, dammi le chiavi della macchina.
I’m about to leave, give me the car keys.

8. To say “leave it”:

Example:

Ti serve aiuto? Lascia stare, riposati pure.
Do you need help? It’s not necessary. Take a rest.

I also suggest to you these books to improve your vocabulary:

Italian Idioms With Stare

As we said before, the verb stare is very important in Italian language. Therefore, there are a lot of idiomatic expressions with this verb. Let’s see the most used ones:

stare come le sardine – be crowded
stare a bocca chiusa – keep quiet
stare a cuore – care for
stare a distanza – keep at a distance
stare a pane e acqua – be living on bread and water
stare al proprio posto – do your thing
stare comodo – be at ease
stare con i piedi per terra – be realistic
stare con il cuore in gola – be anxious about
stare con le orecchie tese – keep your ears open
stare fuori dal mondo – be out of this world
stare in gamba – keep doing well
stare insieme – be in a relationship
stare in guardia – be careful

Now when you read all the conjugations of stare, with all this in your mind, you will start to “stare comodo” with italian language, too.

Let’s repeat it all with music!

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.

July 19, 2021/by Lucia

Italian Grammar, Italian Vocabulary, Lessons

Avere Conjugation – How to use Avere in Italian

Avere conjugation is one of the most important Italian Conjugation to keep in mind. The second one is Essere Conjugation (to be).

If you want to know Italian language you must know both verbs in order to improve your skills.

But let’s see what does avere means?

Avere is the equivalent form of the English verb to have. It generally indicates possession or ownership (abstract or matherial things); to have certain physical characteristics or moral or intellectual qualities or it is used to indicate age. Also, avere is an auxiliary verb used to create the compound tenses of regular and irregular verbs.

Examples:

Mia sorella ha gli occhi blu e i capelli biondi.
My sister has blue eyes and blonde hair.

Hai mangiato tu l’ultima fetta di pizza?
Did you eat the last slice of pizza?

As you can notice, the use of avere can meaningfully vary according to the context where it is applied.

Before proceeding, if you want to practice Italian tenses here is a useful books for you:

Avere Conjugation – Presente

Avere Conjugation - Learn the verb avere in Italian

The first thing to know is that avere has an irregular conjugation, meaning that you cannot look at regular verbs’ general rules. On the contrary, you need to learn it by heart:

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui / Lei ha

Noi abbiamo

Voi avete

Loro hanno

Remember that the “h” is silent in Italian!

Examples:

Ho delle uova e anche un pò di farina. Facciamo una torta?
I have some eggs and some flour, too. Shall we bake a cake?

Mandy ha due criceti, una tartaruga e un cane di nome Skippy.
Mandy has two hamsters, a turtle, and a dog named Skippy.

Avere Conjugation – Passato Prossimo

Io ho avuto

Tu hai avuto

Lui / Lei ha avuto

Noi abbiamo avuto

Voi avete avuto

Loro hanno avuto

Passato Prossimo is the tense of actions that happened in the recent past. It is essentially employed when indicating what you have done this morning, yesterday, one month ago, and so on.

Examples:

Non ha avuto la forza di dirle cosa stesse realmente accadendo.
He didn’t have the strength to tell her what was really going on.

Povero Chris! Oggi ha avuto proprio una giornataccia!
Poor Chris! Today he really had a pretty rough day!

Avere Conjugation – Imperfetto

Io avevo

Tu avevi

Lui / Lei aveva

Noi avevamo

Voi avevate

Loro avevano

You make use of Imperfetto in Italian in case you want to talk about past habits, feelings, and actions in progress in the past.

Examples:

Quando ero piccolo, i miei avevano una casa in campagna vicino Frascati.
When I was young, my parents used to have a house in the country near Frascati.

Per caso avevate bisogno di qualcosa? Va tutto bene?
Did you guys need anything? Is everything ok?

Avere Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo

Io avevo avuto

Tu avevi avuto

Lui / Lei aveva avuto

Noi avevamo avuto

Voi avevate avuto

Loro avevano avuto

Instead, to speak about an event occurring before another one in the past, you need to look at the Trapassato Prossimo. To form it, just take the simple past of avere and its past participle (avuto).

Examples:

Non avevi avuto già la tua paghetta? Perché sei di nuovo qui?
Hadn’t you already gotten your allowance? Why are you here again?

Dennis aveva avuto in regalo una costosissima chitarra elettrica.
Dennis had had as a gift a very expensive electric guitar.

Avere Conjugation – Passato Remoto

Io ebbi

Tu avesti

Lui / Lei ebbe

Noi avemmo

Voi aveste

Loro ebbero

Going on, we can find Passato Remoto. Generally present in literature and history books, it is chiefly employed to expess actions that happened a long time ago. Considered as an “endangered” tense, it is largely replaced by the Passato Prossimo in everyday language.

Examples:

Dopo aver scoperto il tradimento di suo marito, ebbe una crisi nervosa.
After she found out her husband cheated on her, she had a mental breakdown.

Qualche anno fa si sposarono ed ebbero due splendide bambine.
Some years ago they got married and had two beautiful little girls.

Avere Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto

Io ebbi avuto

Tu avesti avuto

Lui / Lei ebbe avuto

Noi avemmo avuto

Voi aveste avuto

Loro ebbero avuto

Similarly, although it has almost disappeared in the spoken language, Italian Trapassato Remoto still occurs in the written language, especially in documentaries, novels and newspapers. Being a compound tense, it is formed by avere conjugated in the Passato Remoto and its past participle.

Examples:

Dopo che ebbe avuto modo di scusarsi, decise di restare.
After she had had the chance to apologize, she decided to stay.

Ci ringraziarono solo dopo che avemmo avuto quella brillante idea.
They thanked us only after we had had that brilliant idea.

Avere Conjugation – Futuro Semplice

On the other hand, Italian Futuro is mainly applied when you aim to report events that have yet to happen (Futuro Semplice) or a fact that will be finished before another one takes place (Futuro Anteriore).

Io avrò

Tu avrai

Lui / Lei avrà

Noi avremo

Voi avrete

Lo avranno

Examples:

Avrete tutto quello che avete chiesto, non vi preoccupate!
You will have everything you asked for, don’t worry!

Mi sa che nessuno di noi avrà le ferie quest’estate.
I think none of us will go on holiday this summer.

Avere Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore

Io avrò avuto

Tu avrai avuto

Lui / Lei avrà avuto

Noi avremo avuto

Voi avrete avuto

Loro avranno avuto

Examples:

Melinda avrà avuto le sue buone ragioni per aver rotto con Milton.
Melinda will have had her reasons for breaking up with Milton.

Avranno avuto tutto quello di cui hanno bisogno? Chissà!
Will they have had everything they need? Who knows!

Avere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente

Congiuntivo is mainly used when talking about something you are not sure of or expressing your opinion. Anyway, its main feature is the conjunction che preceding the conjugated verb. In addition, the simple and compound tenses of Congiuntivo can be translated with the tenses of present and past simple.

Che io abbia

Che tu abbia

Che lui / lei abbia

Che noi abbiamo

Che voi abbiate

Che loro abbiano

Examples:

Tuo padre vuole solo che tu abbia le stesse opportunità dei tuoi coetanei.
Your dad just wants you to have the same chances as your peers.

Ho paura che non abbia voglia di venire in vacanza con noi quest’anno.
I fear he doesn’t feel like coming on holiday with us this year.

Avere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato

Che io abbia avuto

Che tu abbia avuto

Che lui / lei abbia avuto

Che noi abbiamo avuto

Che voi abbiate avuto

Che loro abbiano avuto

Examples:

Nonostante abbia avuto un buon voto, Mason era ancora triste.
Although he got a good grade, Mason was still unhappy.

Spero che abbiate avuto un buon motivo per non essere venute alla mia mostra.
I hope you had a good reason for not coming to my exhibition.

Avere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Che io avessi

Che tu avessi

Che lui / lei avesse

Che noi avessimo

Che voi aveste

Che loro avessero

Examples:

Credeva che avesse torto dopo quello che aveva detto.
He thought she was wrong after what she said.

Se aveste più fiducia in me, mi lascereste lavorare in santa pace!
If you had more faith in me, you would let me work in peace!

Avere Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Che io avessi avuto

Che tu avessi avuto

Che lui / lei avesse avuto

Che noi avessimo avuto

Che voi aveste avuto

Che loro avessero avuto

Examples:

Se avesse avuto modo di aiutarla, non le avrebbe lasciato fare una simile stupidaggine.
If she had had the chance to help her, she wouldn’t have let her do such a silly thing.

Vorrei che avessimo avuto più tempo per stare insieme ieri sera.
I wish we had had more time to be together yesterday evening.

Avere Conjugation – Condizionale Presente

Io avrei

Tu avresti

Lui / Lei avrebbe

Noi avremmo

Voi avreste

Loro avrebbero

You resort to Italian Condizionale when you intend to express wishes, intentions, hypotheses, and polite requests.

Examples:

In realtà avrei qui con me qualcosa che fa al caso tuo.
Actually, I’d have something here with me that’s right for you.

Signor Draghi, quei ragazzi lì avrebbero una proposta da farle.
Mr. Draghi, those guys there would like to lay a proposition before you.

Avere Conjugation – Condizionale Passato

Io avrei avuto

Tu avresti avuto

Lui / Lei avrebbe avuto

Noi avremmo avuto

Voi avreste avuto

Loro avrebbero avuto

Examples:

Sapevano che avrebbero avuto presto sue notizie.
They figured they’d be hearing from him soon.

Si dice che avrebbe avuto una relazione con una famosa bulgara.
They say he would have a love affair with a famous Bulgarian actress.

Avere Conjugation – Imperativo

You build sentences in the Imperativo in case you want to give orders, instructions, or advice to somebody. Seen as it is an irregular verb, avere has its own forms, too.

Abbi (tu)

Abbia (lui / lei)

Abbiamo (noi)

Abbiate (voi)

Abbiano (loro)

Examples:

Abbi pazienza e aspetta il tuo turno, per favore!
Please be patient and get in line!

Abbiate il coraggio di prendervi le vostre responsabilità, ragazzi!
Guys, be brave enough to take on your own responsibilities!

Avere Conjugation – Infinito

Present tense	Past tense
avere	aver avuto

Examples:

La maggior parte delle persone aspira ad avere una vita felice.
Most people aim to live happy life.

Devi aver avuto una giornata molto impegnativa, vero?
It must have been a busy day for you, mustn’t it?

Avere Conjugation – Participio

Present tense	Past tense
avente	avuto

While avente is less common, avuto is basically employed in the compound tenses of avere, as you have seen until now.

Examples:

Sta cercando un appartamento avente tre stanze e due bagni.
He’s looking for an apartment having three rooms and two bathrooms.

Avuto quello che desiderava, Mike non si è fatto più vivo.
After he had what he demanded, Mike didn’t show up anymore.

Avere Conjugation – Gerundio

Gerundio is another tense Italians don’t use very often. Anyway, you can easily find it in sentences in the present progressive.

Present tense	Past tense
avendo	avendo avuto

Examples:

Avendo tante cose da fare non ho tempo di andarlo a trovare.
Having a lot of things to do, I’m too busy to visit him.

Avendo avuto l’influenza sono rimasto a casa la scorsa settimana.
Having had the flu, I stayed at home last week.

Different uses of Avere in Italian

Expressing feelings

Avere in Italian is widely applied in lots of expressions to express a feeling, a sensation, or a desire to be accomplished. Here is a list of the most important statements you probably could hear during a conversation with Italians:

Italian	English
avere voglia di	to feel like
avere freddo / caldo	to be cold/hot
avere sete / fame	to be thirsty/hungry
avere paura di	to be scared/afraid of
avere sonno	to be sleepy
avere fretta	to be in a hurry
avere bisogno di	to need
avere torto / ragione	to be wrong/right
avere piacere di	to be pleased

Examples:

Si sa che tutti i bambini hanno paura del buio.
Everyone knows that kids are afraid of the dark.

Sai perfettamente che questa volta hai torto marcio.
You know exactly you are dead wrong this time.

Devi dirmi qualcosa? Sbrigati che ho fretta!
Is there anything you need to tell me? Come on, I’m in a hurry!

Talking about your age

One of the first things Italian students learn when studying English is talking about their age. Actually, you are required to use avere in Italian to say how old you are instead of essere as it happens in English.

Example:

Maria ha 15 anni e viene da Milano.
Maria is 15 years old and comes from Milan.

Italian idioms with Avere

The verb avere also occurs in lots of Italian idiomatic expressions.

Since there are so many, we are going to mention the most used and popular ones:

Italian	English
avere l’aria di	to seem
avere (o non avere) a che fare con qualcosa o qualcuno	to have something to do with something or someone
avere a mente	to remember
avere importanza	to be important
avere luogo	to take place
avere inizio	to begin
avere da fare	to be busy
avere cura di qualcosa o qualcuno	to take care of somebody and something
avere un diavolo per capello	to be furious

Examples:

Ha l’aria di sapere quello che sta facendo. Fidati di me!
He seems to know what he is doing. Trust me!

Il concerto non ha avuto luogo a causa del maltempo.
The concert didn’t take place due to bad weather.

Lasciami stare! Oggi ho un diavolo per capello!
Leave me alone! I’m so furious today!

Regional uses: Tenere vs Avere

In some regions of Italy, especially in the South, avere is sometimes replaced by the verb tenere meaning to hold, maintain or keep.

Example:

Papà, tengo fame! Mi porti qualcosa da mangiare?
Dad, I’m hungry! Can you bring me anything to eat?

At the end of this article, you should have learned the full conjugation of avere and its main uses according to the cases seen before.

Therefore, why don’t you open up a conversation with a simple question like “quanti anni hai?” or “hai fratelli o sorelle?“.

By: Alfonso Di Somma

Born and raised in Italy, he is an Italian professional translator and a tireless traveler. His main passion? Foreign languages!

June 28, 2021/by Alfonso Di Somma

Italian Grammar, Italian Learning Resources, Italian Vocabulary

Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Italian Past Tenses

One of the most frequent problems English speakers have when studying Italian is choosing between Passato Prossimo vs Imperfetto.

Passato Prossimo and Imperfetto are Italian Past Tenses used to talk about something that happened in the past, but they have different uses and purposes. Passato prossimo is made by the verb avere or essere in the present tense plus the past participle and it is used to indicate past events that happened once, but still have effects on the present. Imperfetto is formed dropping the -re of the infinitive and adding -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano and it is used to talk about past habits or repetitive actions that are no longer happening.

As you can see it is not very difficult to understand. In this article, we will focus on the main differences existing between these two tenses and when to use them in the right context. In particular we will see:

One time vs Habit
Description of the conditions and states
Duration of the past actions
Parallel Actions
Interrupted Actions
Storytelling
Time Expressions

But, first, let’s quickly refresh the forms of these two tenses:

Passato Prossimo

Passato prossimo is made by the verb avere or essere in the present tense plus the past participle. You obtain the past participle by changing the final endings of the infinitive form, in this way:

-are → -ato,

-ere → -uto,

-ire → -ito.

Remember that when you use the auxiliary essere, you need to change the final endings according to the subject.

Examples:

Ho mangiato una torta buonissima.
I ate a very good cake.

Siamo andati in palestra.
We went to the gym.

Imperfetto

Imperfetto is easy in its formation. You drop -re of the infinitive and simply add -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.

Examples:

Da piccola mangiavo tante caramelle.
When I was little, I used to eat a lot of candy.

Non dormiva mai quando la bambina piangeva.
She never slept when the baby cried.

Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Common Uses

In order to understand the main differences between the Passato Prossimo and the Imperfetto, I’m going to show you some of the most common uses of the two tenses in everyday life, compared to each other and explained through various examples.

Before proceeding, I also suggest you some useful books you can use to repeat Italian Grammar and Italian Tenses:

1. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – One time vs habit

We use the Imperfetto to talk about past habits or repetitive actions that are no longer happening. On the contrary, the Passato Prossimo is required when you want to indicate past events that happened once, but still have effects on the present. Look at the following examples.

Examples:

Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo
Da bambina andavo in piscina due volte a settimana. When I was a child, I used to go to the swimming pool twice a week.	La scorsa settimana sono andata in piscina. Last week I went to the swimming pool.
Dopo ogni viaggio gli portava sempre un souvenir. After each trip he always used to bring him a gift.	Antonio mi ha portato un souvenir dal Canada. Antonio brought me a gift from Canada.
Mangiava tanto perché si annoiava. He was eating a lot because he was getting bored.	L’altro giorno ha mangiato tanto e si è sentito male. The other day he ate a lot and he got sick.

As you can see, it’s not very complicated! Let’s see other examples:

Mio padre mi portava con sé in ufficio ogni volta che poteva. My father used to take me with him to his office every time he could.	Ieri mattina mio padre mi ha portato con sé in ufficio. Yesterday morning my father took me with him to his office.
Da piccolo io e i miei parenti ci riunivamo a Natale. When I was young, my relatives and I used to meet on Christmas.	Un anno fa io e i miei parenti ci siamo riuniti a Natale. One year ago my relatives and I met on Christmas.
A volte tornava dalla Sicilia con un vassoio di cannoli. Sometimes, he used to come back from Sicily with a tray of cannoli.	Il mese scorso è tornato dalla Sicilia con un vassoio di cannoli. Last month he came back from Sicily with a tray of cannoli.

2. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Description of conditions and states

Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto - Italian Past Tenses

Also, we need to look at the typology of the description you provide when speaking about past conditions and states. Specifically, we employ the Imperfetto to describe the weather and physical or emotional states in the past. On the contrary, we apply the Passato Prossimo to point out physical and mental changes happened in a specific moment in the past, as events.

Examples:

Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo
Era una giornata fredda e nuvolosa. It was a cold and cloudy day.	Oggi ha piovuto e non sono potuto andare al parco. Today it rained so I didn’t manage to go to the park.
Dopo la caduta sentiva dolore alla caviglia. After falling down, he felt pain in his ankle.	Ha sentito dolore quando si è fatto male alla caviglia. He was in pain when he hurt his ankle.
Mi innervosiva il suo atteggiamento sfacciato. His brush attitude made me nervous.	Mi ha davvero innervosito il suo modo di fare. His way of acting really made me nervous.

3. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Duration of past actions

In the third place, we focus on the duration of past actions . According to this principle, we resort to the Imperfetto when we relate to past actions or events whose start and end are basically unclear. Otherwise, we need the Passato Prossimo in case of past facts that started and ended at a specific point in time.

Examples:

Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo
Andava in Europa, più precisamente in Portogallo. He was flying to Europe, more precisely to Portugal.	Sei anni fa sono andato in Europa, più precisamente in Portogallo. Six years ago, I flew to Europe, more precisely to Portugal.
Beveva con gli amici in un locale vicino la stazione. He was drinking with his friends in a pub next to the station.	Ieri sera è andato a bere con gli amici. Yesterday evening he went out for a drink with his friends.
Il fratello di Andrea veniva a trovarmi ogni volta che poteva. Andrea’s brother used to come to visit me every time he could.	L’altro ieri mi è venuto a trovare il fratello di Andrea. The day before yesterday, Andrea’s brother came to visit me.

4. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Parallel Actions

Generally, we use the Imperfetto to mention concurrent events, meaning facts that happened in the same moment or period of time in the past.

Instead, we apply the Passato Prossimo in case of actions in succession whose duration or moment of occurance in the past are not so relevant.

Examples:

Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo
Mentre pranzava, mio madre guardava “Un posto al sole”. While having lunch, my mother was watching “Un posto al sole”.	Mia madre ha pranzato e poi ha guardato “Un posto al sole”. My mother had lunch and then watched “Un posto al sole”.
All’università studiava e lavorava in un ristorante per pagarsi gli studi. When she was at university, she used to study and work in a restaurant to pay her istruction.	Dopo l’università, si è laureata e in seguito ha trovato lavoro in uno studio medico. After university, she graduated and later found a job in a doctor’s office.
Lidia ascoltava “Resta in ascolto” di Laura Pausini, mentre pelava le patate. Lidia was listening to “Resta in ascolto” by Laura Pausini, while peeling potatoes.	Lidia ha pelato prima le patate e poi dopo ha ascoltato “Resta in ascolto” di Laura Pausini. Firstly, Lidia peeled potatoes; after that she listened to “Resta in ascolto” by Laura Pausini.

5. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Interrupted actions

There are some occasions where we require both the Imperfetto and the Passato Prossimo in a sentence built in the past. For this reason, we make reference to actions interrupted by others, namely reporting what we were doing when something occurred and interrupted what we were doing. In this specific case, you can find the presence of quando (when) and mentre (while).

Examples:

Facevamo i compiti quando improvvisamente sono ritornati i nostri genitori.
We were doing our homework when suddenly our parents came back home.

Mentre mi preparavo per la scuola, mi ha chiamato Paolo.
While I was getting ready for school, Paolo called me.

Quando Maria viveva in Spagna, ha visitato sia Barcellona sia Madrid.
When Maria lived in Spain, she visited both Barcelona and Madrid.

6. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Storytelling

Finally, we find the last difference regarding the act of reporting something in a consequential way. Actually, you are asked to employ the Imperfetto to give information about the background, like the location or the context where the event takes place. On the contrary, you make use of Passato Prossimo to let the story proceed onwards.

Examples:

Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo
I bambini facevano il bagno in piscina e i genitori prendevano il sole. Kids were taking a swim in the pool, while their parents were sunbathing.	Stamattina in spiaggia i bambini hanno fatto il bagno in piscina e i genitori hanno preso il sole. This morning kids have taken a swim in the pool, while their parents have sunbathed.
Continuamente mi diceva che gli avrebbe parlato di quella faccenda quanto prima. He was continually telling me he would talk to him about that matter as soon as possible.	Mi ha detto che gli avrebbe parlato di quella faccenda quanto prima. He told me he would talk to him about that matter as soon as possible.
Nel bosco di solito si imbatteva in cerbiatti e conigli. In the woods he usually used to bump into fawns and rabbits.	Andando nel bosco, si è imbattuto in cerbiatti e conigli. Going into the woods, he bumped into fawns and rabbits.

7. Passato Prossimo Vs Imperfetto – Time expressions

Another way to distinguish cases where the Imperfetto is employed from situations where the Passato Prossimo is applied is by looking at time expressions. These ones are normally used to give more information about the type of action existing in the sentence in order to provide help when you are asked to choose between the two tenses.

Time expressions used with the Imperfetto

da piccolo / giovane (when I was a child / young )

sempre (always)

tutti i giorni / ogni giorno (every day)

mentre (while)

spesso (often)

continuamente (continually)

a volte (sometimes)

normalmente (normally)

solitamente (usually)

ogni volta che (every time that)

ogni tanto (once in a while)

Time expressions used with the Passato Prossimo

ieri (yesterday)

ieri mattina / ieri pomeriggio / ieri sera (yesterday morning) / (yesterday afternoon) / (last night)

l’altro ieri (the day before yesterday)

due giorni fa (two days ago)

una settimana fa (one week ago)

mercoledì scorso (last Wednesday)

un anno fa (one year ago)

Il mese scorso (last month)

l’anno scorso (last year)

un’ora fa / alcuni giorni fa (one hour ago) / (some days ago)

Examples:

Imperfetto	Passato Prossimo
Da piccolo giocava a scacchi con gli amici della chiesa. When he was a child, he used to play chess with his friends from the church.	L’anno scorso ha giocato a scacchi con gli amici della parrocchia. Last year he played chess with his friends from the church.
Normalmente usciva nel weekend, non in settimana. He normally used to go out on the weekend, not during the week.	Mercoledì scorso è uscito nel weekend, non in settimana. Last Wednesday he went out on the weekend, not during the week.
Tutti i giorni le regalava un cioccolatino per dimostrarle il suo affetto. Every day he used to give her a chocolate as a present to prove that he was fond of her.	Alcuni giorni fa le ha regalato un cioccolatino per dimostrarle il suo affetto. Some days ago he gave her a chocolate as a present to prove that he was fond of her.

Wrapping Up

After reading this article until the end, you should be able to understand when to use the Imperfetto or the Passato Prossimo according to the cases and tricks mentioned above. What you are suggested to do first is to look for time expressions in the Italian sentence you are about to translate. These indicators make you understand which tense is required in that specific context or situation.

Second, you can analyse the type of event that occured in the past, mostly focusing on the certainty or uncertainty related to the time of action.

Now that you have this further information, start speaking about events in the past in Italian and do not forget to make the best choice!

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.

June 7, 2021/by Lucia

Italian Grammar

Italian Imperfetto – The tense of storytelling

Italian Imperfetto is one of the most simple Past Tense, but it can be very confusing since most non-romance languages don’t use it. Also, it is one of the most used past tenses along withÂ Passato Prossimo and it can be very tricky to understand when to use Italian Imperfetto or Passato prossimo learning their differences and uses in context.

By the way, once you master these Italian Past Tenses, you will find out that Italian Imperfetto is quite simple to study:

What is the Italian Imperfetto?

Italian Imperfetto is generally employed to mention events that happened regularly for a certain amount of time in the past, actions occurring at the same time or to describe something in the past.Â It is formed dropping the -re of the infinitive and adding -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. In English there are lots of ways to translate the Italian Imperfetto, for example using the expression used to, the past progressive, or the simple past.

Examples:

Il Sig. Foster era sempre gentile con tutti.
Mr Foster was always kind to everyone.

Mentre mangiava, ascoltava le storie di suo nonno.
While he was eating, he listened to his grandfatherâ€™s stories.Â Â Â

Quando vivevamo a Parigi, passeggiavamo spesso sugli Champs-Ã‰lysÃ©es.
When we lived in Paris, we often used to walk down the Champs-Ã‰lysÃ©es. Â Â Â Â Â Â

Now that you are starting to understand its uses, let’s see how to use Italian verbs in the Imperfetto.

And if you want to learn more about Italian Grammar, here there are useful books I suggest you to read:

Now let’s dive in!

Italian imperfetto – Regular verbs

Italian Imperfetto - Studying Italian Past Tenses

In order to conjugate regular verbs in the Imperfetto, you need to take the root of the main verb and add the different endings of –are, –ere, –ire conjugations.

As you will notice, verbs simply keep the vowel that is before the -r and add -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.

Letâ€™s see them in detail, taking as an example the verbs cantare (to sing), leggere (to read) and dormire (to sleep).

Cantare – to sing

Io cantavo

Tu cantavi

Lui / Lei cantava

Noi cantavamo

Voi cantavate

Loro cantavano

Example:

Quando aveva 12 anni, mia mamma cantava nel coro della chiesa.
When she was 12, my mom used to sing in the church choir.

Leggere – to read

Io leggevo

Tu leggevi

Lui / Lei leggeva

Noi leggevamo

Voi leggevate

Loro leggevano

Example:

Mentre leggevo, ho sentito suonare il campanello.
While I was reading, I heard the bell ring. Â

Dormire – to sleep

Io dormivo

Tu dormivi

Lui / Lei dormiva

Noi dormivamo

Voi dormivate

Loro dormivano

Example:

Dormiva cosÃ¬ profondamente che mi dispiaceva svegliarlo.
He was sleeping so soundly that I felt bad waking him up. Â Â

Italian imperfetto – Irregular verbs

Here are five common verbs following an irregular conjugation: fare (to do), bere (to drink), dire (to say) essere (to be) and also tradurre (to translate).

Fare – to do

Io facevo

Tu facevi

Lui / Lei faceva

Noi facevamo

Voi facevate

Loro facevano

Example:

Che facevano quando siete rientrati a casa?
What were they doing when you came back home?

Bere – to drink

Io bevevo

Tu bevevi

Lui / Lei beveva

Noi bevevamo

Voi bevevate

Loro bevevano

Example:

Quando frequentavo lâ€™universitÃ , bevevo ogni sera con gli amici.
When I was in college, I used to drink every night with my friends.

Dire – to say

Io dicevo

Tu dicevi

Lui / Lei diceva

Noi dicevamo

Voi dicevate

Loro dicevano

Example:

Non mi piaceva affatto quello che dicevano.
I didnâ€™t like at all what they were saying.

Essere – to be

Io ero

Tu eri

Lui / Lei era

Noi eravamo

Voi eravate

Loro erano

Example:

Era davvero stanca di vederlo triste.Â
She was really sick of seeing him sad.

Tradurre – to translate

Io traducevo

Tu traducevi

Lui / Lei traduceva

Noi traducevamo

Voi traducevate

Loro traducevano

Example:

In vacanza lui parlava sempreÂ in italiano e io traducevo in inglese.
On vacation he used to speak in Italian and I translated into English.

When to use Italian Imperfetto

Here below are some of the most common situations where Italian Imperfetto is generally employed.

Habits in the past

When you want to speak about habits and repeated actions in the past you need to use Italian Imperfetto.

Examples:

Quando erano fidanzati si vedevano ogni giorno a pranzo e a cena.
When they were engaged, they used to meet for lunch and dinner every day.Â

Quando Jamie era piccolo giocava a calcio con i ragazzi del quartiere.
When Jamie was young, he used to play football with the neighbourhood boys.Â Â

In inverno io e i miei parenti andavamo sempre a sciare a Saint Moritz.
In winter my relatives and I always used to go skiing in St.Moritz.

As you may have noticed, one of the several ways of translating Italian Imperfetto into English when talking about habits and repeated actions in the past is by resorting to the expression used to.

Description of people, places and situations in the past

When you want to give a description of people, places and situations in the past you must use Italian Imperfetto.

Examples:

Il nonno di Adele era davvero una persona buona e gentile.
Adeleâ€™s grandfather was such a good and kind man. Â

Nella cittÃ di Katherine câ€™erano solo un cinema e una birreria per divertirsi.
In Katherineâ€™s town there was only a cinema and a brewery where to have fun.Â

Era una situazione strana che non riuscivo per niente a comprendere.
It was a weird situation that I wasnâ€™t able to understand at all.

Description of the weather in the past

Use the Italian Imperfetto when talking about the weather in the past.

Examples:

Ieri câ€™era il sole, oggi invece piove.
Yesterday it was sunny, today it rains instead.

Faceva caldo quando ci siamo messi in viaggio per Sorrento.
It was hot while we were heading to Sorrento. Â

Grandinava forte quel giorno e non si poteva uscire di casa.
That day it was hailing heavily and we didnâ€™t manage to leave home.Â

Description of feelings in the past

Furthermore, when your intention is to describe a physical or psychological state in the past, you need the Italian Imperfetto.

Examples:

Aveva un mal di testa terribile che le impediva di stare in piedi.
She had a terrible headache that made her incapable of standing.Â

Si sentiva davvero stanco dopo unâ€™intensa giornata di lavoro. Â
He felt really tired after an exhausting working day.

I bambini aspettavano con impazienza il ritorno dei loro genitori.
Kids were waiting impatiently for their parents to get home.Â

With some verbs

You need to use the Italian Imperfetto when saying what people knew, thought or meant in the past, but not anymore.

Examples:

Non sapeva cosa dire perchÃ© aveva paura di ferirlo.
She didnâ€™t know what to say because he was afraid of hurting him.

Pensavo fosse lui il ragazzo per cui ti sei presa una cotta.
I thought he was the guy you had a crush on.

Volevi davvero dire quello che ho sentito? Sul serio?
Did you really mean what I heard? Seriously?

Parallel actions with the same length

We use Imperfetto when referring to actions which happened at the same time in the past.

If the two actions have the same exact length, we use the Italian Imperfetto for both the events.

Examples:

Mentre passeggiavo, ascoltavo la musica.
While I was walking, I was listening to music.Â

Mentre cenavo, guardavo la TV.
While I was having dinner, I was watching TV.

Parallel actions with a different length

If an action is shorter than the other, you are required to use the Italian Imperfetto for the ongoing event and the Passato Prossimo for the action that â€œinterruptsâ€ the other.

Examples:

Ragazze, ma cosa Ã¨ successo esattamente mentre eravamo via?
Girls, what exactly happened while we were away? Â

Cucinavamo quando abbiamo sentito uno strano rumore
We were cooking when we heard a strange noise.

As you can see, in English you need to apply the past continuous tense to translate sentences built with mentre + Imperfetto properly.

Surroundings and Backgrounds

In this situation, the Italian Imperfetto is mostly applied in storytelling and narration, even in literature to set or describe a scene.

Examples:

Quella sera tutti giocavano a carte e si divertivano molto.
Everybody was playing cards and having a lot of fun.

Intanto il sole sorgeva e gli uccellini cinguettavano sugli alberi.
Meanwhile, the sun rose and birds were chirping on the trees. Â

Pensava a quello che gli era stato detto ed era sempre piÃ¹ paranoico.
He was thinking about what they told him and he was getting more and more paranoid.Â Â Â Â Â

Time expressions with Italian Imperfetto

Sometimes, it can be quite hard to know in which cases you need to apply Italian Imperfetto. For this reason, you can look for some indicators, like the following time expressions:

da piccolo/giovane (when I was a child/ young)
sempre (always)
tutti i giorni / ogni giorno (every day)
mentre (while)
often (spesso)
continuamente (continually)
a volte (sometimes)
normalmente (normally)
solitamente (usually)
ogni volta che (every time that)
ogni tanto (once in a while)

Examples:

Da piccola, Gaia trascorreva le vacanze estive con i suoi nonni.
When she was a child, Gaia used to spend summer holidays with her grandparents.

Ogni volta che le mentiva si sentiva in colpa.
Every time he was lying to her he felt guilty.Â

Marika si allenava tutti i giorni, poi ha smesso.
Marika used to exercise every day, then she stopped.

Imperfetto ipotetico

On specific occasions, especially in the spoken language, Italian Imperfetto is widely used in place of other tenses to make daily conversations shorter and faster.

In the case of imperfetto ipotetico (hypothetical imperfect), it replaces the past tense of Condizionale to indicate unreal conditions or events that would have happened in the past.

Look at the following examples, focusing on the differences between the informal version using imperfetto, and the formal version using the Conditional and the Congiuntivo.

Examples

Imperfetto attenuativo

The Italian Imperfetto attenuativo (mitigating imperfect) is primarily employed with verbs like volere (to want) , desiderare (to wish) and preferire (to prefer) to express a polite request in place of the present conditional.

Examples:

Scusami, volevo solo sapere se qui hai finito.
Sorry, I just wanted to know if you are done here.

Lucia desiderava uscire con le amiche anzichÃ© rimanere a casa.
Lucia wished to go out with her friends instead of staying at home. Â

Giovanni e Marco preferivano andare in spiaggia nel weekend.
Giovanni and Marco preferred to go to the beach on the weekend. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Wrap up

At the end of this article, you should be able to say in Italian which are your past habits or what you used to do when you were a child.

You can easily recognize the Italian Imperfetto by the final endings -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.

You saw all the various situations where Imperfetto is required and also time expressions applied along with this tense.

Concerning irregular verbs, you are suggested to learn their conjugation by heart. When you are unsure about the conjugation, check verb conjugators online such as Il Coniugatore, or Scuola Elettrica.

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.

May 22, 2021/by Lucia