Do you remember what the subjunctive is? It’s a verbal that is mainly used to express emotions, doubts, desires, and opinions! Check out our post if you want a brief reminder on when and why we use the subjunctive in Italian, otherwise, read on!
How to form the present and past subjunctive in Italian?
By: Silvia Giorgini Althoen Fri Sep 19 2025
To form the present in Italian, drop the endings and add the present subjunctive endings. For example, a regular -are verb like ascoltare(to listen) would be: (io, tu, lui/lei) ascolti, (noi) ascoltiamo, (voi) ascoltiate, and (loro) ascoltino. To form the past subjunctive, on the other hand, you need the present subjunctive forms of verbs essere or avere plus a .
Recall that the subjunctive mood in Italian has four : present, past, imperfect, and pluperfect. In this post we’ll cover the and forms of the present subjunctive, then we’ll go over the past subjunctive.
Without further ado, let’s see some tips on how to form the present subjunctive, and how to form the past subjunctive! Penso che siate pronti!(I think you are ready!) Let's go!
Before you start!
How to form the present subjunctive of regular verbs in Italian?
Like the present , the present subjunctive in Italian is conjugated by first dropping the infinitive ending and then adding the appropriate subjunctive endings.
To make sure you do this correctly, you’ll need to start by splitting up our verbs into the three main verb groups. Let’s refresh our memory. In Italian the three main verb groups are those ending in ‑are, ‑ere, and ‑ire.
In this section we’ll start by teaching you how to form the present subjunctive of the verbs ending in ‑are, then we'll look at ‑ere and ‑ire patterns.
The present subjunctive of ‘-are’ verbs
The chart below illustrates the difference between the present subjunctive and the present indicative of an -are verb in Italian. Since the subjunctive is always talking about feelings, we’ve started you off with the most romantic verb: amare(to love).
Subject Pronoun | Present Subjunctive 💚 | Present Indicative 🧠 |
|---|---|---|
io | am-i | am-o |
tu | am-i | am-o |
lui/lei/Lei | am-i | am-a |
noi | am-iamo | am-iamo |
voi | am-iate | am-ate |
loro | am-ino | am-ano |
Amazing news!!!
The subjunctive has fewer endings than the present indicative and the noi(we) form is just like the indicative! So you really only need to learn three new endings! YEAH!!!!!
Let’s break down those three -are endings:
The three singular subject pronouns, io(I), tu(you, sing.), and lei/lui(s/he) have the same subjunctive ending: -i (just like the tu form of the indicative).
io ami = tu ami = lui/lei ami
For voi(you, plural), just add an -i before the indicative ending (-ate).
amate → amiate.
For the plural loro(they), just add -no to the subjunctive lei/lui form.
lui/lei ami → loro amino
That’s a super cool trick!
A couple spelling pointers:
Just like in the indicative, when you verbs with a hard “g” or “c” before the ending, like pagare(to pay) and cercare(to look for), you'll need to add an h before the ending to keep the hard sound in front of the i.
…che io paghi
…that I pay
…che io cerchi
…that I look for
Also, with verbs that already have an i before the ending, like mangiare(to eat) and cominciare(to begin) don’t add a second i to form the subjunctive. Only use one i as in the indicative:
…che lui mangi
…that he eats
…che tu cominci
…that you begin
Important
Remember that the subjunctive is mostly used in introduced by the word che(that) when the subjects are different:
Credo che lui ami questa città.
I believe that he loves this city.
But also remember that subject pronouns can be omitted in Italian, so the sentence above can be:
Credo che ami questa città.
But this second version of the sentence is a little ambiguous. Though we know the subject of ami cannot be io(I), because the subjects must be different in order to use the subjunctive, the subject of ami could be tu(you), lui(he), lei(she), Lei(you, formal). To avoid ambiguity, it’s better to use the subject pronoun:
Credo che lui ami questa città.
The present subjunctive of‘-ere,’ ‘-ire,’ and two-stem ‘-ire’ verbs
The charts below illustrate the present subjunctive forms of -ere verbs and -ire verbs:
Subject Pronoun | -ere verbs | -ire verbs | |
|---|---|---|---|
prendere(to take) | dormire(to sleep) | finire(to finish) | |
io | prend-a | dorm-a | finisc-a |
tu | prend-a | dorm-a | finisc-a |
lei/lui | prend-a | dorm-a | finisc-a |
noi | prend-iamo | dorm-iamo | fin-iamo |
voi | prend-iate | dorm-iate | fin-iate |
loro | prend-ano | dorm-ano | finisc-ano |
Pretty cool, huh? Regular verbs in -ere and -ire have the same conjugation pattern and, like the verbs in -are, noi(we) follows the present indicative:
Present Subjunctive | Present Indicative |
|---|---|
prend-iamo | prend-iamo |
dorm-iamo | dorm-iamo |
fin-iamo | fin-iamo |
Hence only three present subjunctive endings to learn!
Let’s break -ere and -ire verbs down:
The first three (singular) subject pronouns io(I), tu(you, sing.), lei/lui(s/he) have the same ending: -a
io/tu/lei/lui + prenda / dorma / finisca
For the voi(you, plural) form, change the first vowel of the present indicative endings -ete or -ite to -ia:
prendete → prendiate
dormite → dormiate
finite → finiate
For the loro(they) form, use -a instead of the o of the present indicative: -ono:
prendono → prendano
dormono → dormano
finiscono → finiscano
What are the irregular verbs in the present subjunctive?
The “lucky seven” irregular verbs you need to know by heart to impress your Italian friends are:
essere(to be)
avere(to have)
andare(to go)
venire(to come)
fare(to do)
dare(to give)
sapere(to know)
Let's look at their forms!
Irregular Verb | Conjugations (Present Subjunctive) |
|---|---|
essere |
|
avere |
|
andare |
|
venire |
|
Irregular Verb | Conjugations (Present Subjunctive) |
|---|---|
fare |
|
dare |
|
sapere |
|
You can find other irregular verbs in the present subjunctive in the linked tables!
How to form the past subjunctive in Italian?
Finally, the past subjunctive is easy, once you know the present subjunctive of avere(to have) and essere(to be). Just add the and you have it!
avere(to have) / essere(to be)
(present subjunctive)
past participle
Penso che Davide abbia finito l’università.
I think Davide has finished college.
Sono felice che i miei figli siano arrivati ieri!
I’m happy my children arrived yesterday!
Check out our post on when to use essere or avere in compound tenses if you need a refresher!
Important
In Italian, the sequence of verbs (tenses and moods) is very important, and it will determine which tense to use in the subordinate clause: present or past.
If the main clause is in the present indicative, follow these rules:
When two actions happen simultaneously, or the action in the subordinate clause happens immediately after the action in the main clause, use present subjunctive in the subordinate clause
present indicativepresent subjunctiveVoglio che chiamiate i vostri genitori
I want you to call your parents.
When the action in the subordinate clause happened before the action in the main clause, you’ll use the past subjunctive instead:
present indicativepast subjunctiveCredo che tu abbia chiamato i vostri genitori.
I believe that you called your parents.
Summary
The singular forms (io, tu, lui/lei) of the present subjunctive have the same endings:
-i (for -are verbs)
-a (for -ere and -ire verbs)
-are verbs keep the -i throughout the conjugation
-ere and -ire verbs use -(i)a throughout the conjugation
noi(we) is the same as the present indicative
Plan on learning by heart at least the lucky seven irregular verbs!
To form the past subjunctive, just learn avere and essere by heart in the present subjunctive and add the past participle.
Time to practice! Check our activities on the present and past subjunctive! Or, if you think you’ve already mastered these forms, head over to our post on the other two subjunctive past tenses: the imperfect and the pluperfect subjunctive!
