Dovere Conjugation in Italian
dovere means “to have to” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 8 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. It is the modal verb of obligation and necessity, always followed by an infinitive. It also expresses probability when it is used on its own, and its present and future forms are irregular. This page gives you the complete conjugation of dovere — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Io devo presto ogni giorno.” — “I have to leave early.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: dovere
- English: to have to
- Verb type: Irregular -ere verb
- Irregular in: present, passato-remoto, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: dovendo
- Present participle: dovente
- Past participle: dovuto
- Auxiliary: avere (all perfect tenses are formed with avere + the past participle)
- Ending: -ere verbs; pattern ere in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for dovere, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read dovere in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about dovere
- It is irregular in 9 tense(s): present, passato-remoto, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. Learn those forms as a set instead of guessing them from the infinitive, because the stem changes in ways no rule predicts.
- The perfect tenses use avere: the passato prossimo is formed with avere in the present plus the past participle dovuto. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The participles are dovente and dovuto: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for dovere. Learn the present tense first, then the passato prossimo and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative (presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | devo |
| tu | devi |
| lui/lei | deve |
| noi | dobbiamo |
| voi | dovete |
| loro | devono |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io devo presto ogni giorno.” — “I have to leave early”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dovetti |
| tu | dovesti |
| lui/lei | dovette |
| noi | dovemmo |
| voi | doveste |
| loro | dovettero |
The passato remoto is used for completed actions in the distant past, mostly in written and literary Italian and in the south of Italy. For example: “Io dovetti presto ieri.” — “I had to leave early”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dovevo |
| tu | dovevi |
| lui/lei | doveva |
| noi | dovevamo |
| voi | dovevate |
| loro | dovevano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io dovevo presto una volta.” — “I used to have to leave early”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dovrò |
| tu | dovrai |
| lui/lei | dovrà |
| noi | dovremo |
| voi | dovrete |
| loro | dovranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io dovrò presto domani.” — “I will have to leave early”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dovrei |
| tu | dovresti |
| lui/lei | dovrebbe |
| noi | dovremmo |
| voi | dovreste |
| loro | dovrebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io dovrei presto un giorno.” — “I would have to leave early”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho dovuto |
| tu | hai dovuto |
| lui/lei | ha dovuto |
| noi | abbiamo dovuto |
| voi | avete dovuto |
| loro | hanno dovuto |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha dovuto presto questa settimana.” — “He has had to leave early”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo dovuto |
| tu | avevi dovuto |
| lui/lei | aveva dovuto |
| noi | avevamo dovuto |
| voi | avevate dovuto |
| loro | avevano dovuto |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo dovuto presto prima della festa.” — “I had had to leave early”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò dovuto |
| tu | avrai dovuto |
| lui/lei | avrà dovuto |
| noi | avremo dovuto |
| voi | avrete dovuto |
| loro | avranno dovuto |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò dovuto presto per domani.” — “I will have had to leave early”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei dovuto |
| tu | avresti dovuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe dovuto |
| noi | avremmo dovuto |
| voi | avreste dovuto |
| loro | avrebbero dovuto |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei dovuto presto ieri.” — “I would have had to leave early”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | debba |
| tu | debba |
| lui/lei | debba |
| noi | dobbiamo |
| voi | dobbiate |
| loro | debbano |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io debba presto.” — “It is important that I have to leave early”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dovessi |
| tu | dovessi |
| lui/lei | dovesse |
| noi | dovessimo |
| voi | doveste |
| loro | dovessero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io dovessi presto.” — “It was important that I have to leave early”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | — |
| lui/lei | — |
| noi | — |
| voi | — |
| loro | — |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “— presto!” — “Have to leave early!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | dovere |
| lui/lei | debba |
| noi | dobbiamo |
| voi | dobbiate |
| loro | debbano |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non dovere presto.” — “Do not have to leave early.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | dovendo |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Dovendo presto, imparo molto.” — “While having to leave early, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | dovente |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle dovente is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Past participle | dovuto |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho dovuto presto questa settimana.” — “I have had to leave early.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with dovere, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io devo presto ogni giorno.” — “I have to leave early”
- “Tu dovesti presto ieri.” — “You had to leave early”
- “Lui doveva presto una volta.” — “He used to have to leave early”
- “Io dovrò presto domani.” — “I will have to leave early”
- “Tu dovresti presto un giorno.” — “You would have to leave early”
- “Lui ha dovuto presto questa settimana.” — “He has had to leave early”
- “Io avevo dovuto presto prima della festa.” — “I had had to leave early”
- “Tu avrai dovuto presto per domani.” — “You will have had to leave early”
- “È importante che io debba presto.” — “It is important that I have to leave early”
- “— presto!” — “Have to leave early!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io dovere presto.”
✓ Right: “Io devo presto ogni giorno.”
The infinitive dovere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form devo.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io devi presto.”
✓ Right: “Io devo presto ogni giorno.”
devi is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with devo.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io devo presto ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho dovuto presto questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho dovuto for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono dovuto presto.”
✓ Right: “Io ho dovuto presto questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of dovere is formed with avere plus the past participle dovuto: the io form is ho dovuto. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “È importante che io devo presto.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io debba presto.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use debba here, not the indicative devo.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho dovendo presto.”
✓ Right: “Io ho dovuto presto questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle dovuto, not the gerund dovendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dovere. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of dovere in the Present indicative?
- A) devi
- B) devo
- C) deve
- D) dobbiamo
What is the lui/lei form of dovere in the Passato remoto?
- A) dovetti
- B) dovesti
- C) dovette
- D) dovemmo
What is the noi form of dovere in the Imperfect?
- A) dovevo
- B) dovevi
- C) doveva
- D) dovevamo
What is the tu form of dovere in the Future?
- A) dovrai
- B) dovrò
- C) dovrà
- D) dovremo
What is the io form of dovere in the Conditional?
- A) dovresti
- B) dovrei
- C) dovrebbe
- D) dovremmo
What is the lui/lei form of dovere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho dovuto
- B) hai dovuto
- C) ha dovuto
- D) abbiamo dovuto
What is the lui/lei form of dovere in the Present subjunctive?
- A) dobbiamo
- B) dobbiate
- C) debbano
- D) debba
What is the io form of dovere in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) dovessi
- B) dovesse
- C) dovessimo
- D) doveste
What is the gerund of dovere?
- A) dovuto
- B) dovendo
- C) dovere
- D) devo
What does dovere mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to have to
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) devo — the correct form is devo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) dovette — the correct form is dovette. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dovevamo — the correct form is dovevamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dovrai — the correct form is dovrai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) dovrei — the correct form is dovrei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha dovuto — the correct form is ha dovuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) debba — the correct form is debba. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dovessi — the correct form is dovessi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) dovendo — the correct form is dovendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to have to — the correct form is to have to. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does dovere mean in English?
dovere means “to have to”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is dovere regular or irregular?
dovere is irregular: it is irregular in present, passato-remoto, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is dovendo and the past participle is dovuto.
What are the gerund and past participle of dovere?
The gerund is dovendo — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is dovuto — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho dovuto.
Which auxiliary does dovere take in the passato prossimo?
dovere takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho dovuto. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle dovuto.
How do I say “I have to leave” in Italian?
Say “Io devo presto ogni giorno.” — “I have to leave early” The io form of the present is devo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of dovere — every tense of dovere in one place.
- Dovere in the passato prossimo tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Dovere examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Italian passato prossimo tense guide — the full guide to the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
- Italian irregular verbs — every common irregular Italian verb, grouped by pattern.
- Essere conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Avere conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Conjugator — practise dovere with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise dovere with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise dovere with the interactive tool.