Passare Conjugation in Italian
passare means “to pass” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 352 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. It means to pass something to someone, to spend time, and to pass by a place. The tables on this page use avere, the auxiliary for its transitive uses, as in passing the salt or spending an afternoon. When passare means to drop by or to go past without an object, Italian uses essere instead, so the meaning decides the auxiliary. This page gives you the complete conjugation of passare — 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 passo il sale a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I pass the salt to Maria.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: passare
- English: to pass
- Verb type: Regular -are verb
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: passando
- Present participle: passante
- Past participle: passato
- Auxiliary: avere (all perfect tenses are formed with avere + the past participle)
- Ending: -are verbs; pattern are in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for passare, 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 passare in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about passare
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -are pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use avere: the passato prossimo is formed with avere in the present plus the past participle passato. 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 passante and passato: 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 passare. 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 | passo |
| tu | passi |
| lui/lei | passa |
| noi | passiamo |
| voi | passate |
| loro | passano |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io passo il sale a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I pass the salt to Maria”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | passai |
| tu | passasti |
| lui/lei | passò |
| noi | passammo |
| voi | passaste |
| loro | passarono |
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 passai il sale a Maria ieri.” — “I passed the salt to Maria”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | passavo |
| tu | passavi |
| lui/lei | passava |
| noi | passavamo |
| voi | passavate |
| loro | passavano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io passavo il sale a Maria una volta.” — “I used to pass the salt to Maria”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | passerò |
| tu | passerai |
| lui/lei | passerà |
| noi | passeremo |
| voi | passerete |
| loro | passeranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io passerò il sale a Maria domani.” — “I will pass the salt to Maria”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | passerei |
| tu | passeresti |
| lui/lei | passerebbe |
| noi | passeremmo |
| voi | passereste |
| loro | passerebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io passerei il sale a Maria un giorno.” — “I would pass the salt to Maria”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho passato |
| tu | hai passato |
| lui/lei | ha passato |
| noi | abbiamo passato |
| voi | avete passato |
| loro | hanno passato |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha passato il sale a Maria questa settimana.” — “He has passed the salt to Maria”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo passato |
| tu | avevi passato |
| lui/lei | aveva passato |
| noi | avevamo passato |
| voi | avevate passato |
| loro | avevano passato |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo passato il sale a Maria prima della festa.” — “I had passed the salt to Maria”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò passato |
| tu | avrai passato |
| lui/lei | avrà passato |
| noi | avremo passato |
| voi | avrete passato |
| loro | avranno passato |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò passato il sale a Maria per domani.” — “I will have passed the salt to Maria”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei passato |
| tu | avresti passato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe passato |
| noi | avremmo passato |
| voi | avreste passato |
| loro | avrebbero passato |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei passato il sale a Maria ieri.” — “I would have passed the salt to Maria”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | passi |
| tu | passi |
| lui/lei | passi |
| noi | passiamo |
| voi | passiate |
| loro | passino |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io passi il sale a Maria.” — “It is important that I pass the salt to Maria”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | passassi |
| tu | passassi |
| lui/lei | passasse |
| noi | passassimo |
| voi | passaste |
| loro | passassero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io passassi il sale a Maria.” — “It was important that I pass the salt to Maria”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | passa |
| lui/lei | passi |
| noi | passiamo |
| voi | passate |
| loro | passino |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Passa il sale a Maria!” — “Pass the salt to Maria!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | passare |
| lui/lei | passi |
| noi | passiamo |
| voi | passiate |
| loro | passino |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non passare il sale a Maria.” — “Do not pass the salt to Maria.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | passando |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Passando il sale a Maria, imparo molto.” — “While passing the salt to Maria, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | passante |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle passante 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 | passato |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho passato il sale a Maria questa settimana.” — “I have passed the salt to Maria.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with passare, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io passo il sale a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I pass the salt to Maria”
- “Tu passasti il sale a Maria ieri.” — “You passed the salt to Maria”
- “Lui passava il sale a Maria una volta.” — “He used to pass the salt to Maria”
- “Io passerò il sale a Maria domani.” — “I will pass the salt to Maria”
- “Tu passeresti il sale a Maria un giorno.” — “You would pass the salt to Maria”
- “Lui ha passato il sale a Maria questa settimana.” — “He has passed the salt to Maria”
- “Io avevo passato il sale a Maria prima della festa.” — “I had passed the salt to Maria”
- “Tu avrai passato il sale a Maria per domani.” — “You will have passed the salt to Maria”
- “È importante che io passi il sale a Maria.” — “It is important that I pass the salt to Maria”
- “Passa il sale a Maria!” — “Pass the salt to Maria!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io passare il sale a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io passo il sale a Maria ogni giorno.”
The infinitive passare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form passo.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io passi il sale a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io passo il sale a Maria ogni giorno.”
passi is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with passo.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io passo il sale a Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho passato il sale a Maria questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho passato for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono passato il sale a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho passato il sale a Maria questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of passare is formed with avere plus the past participle passato: the io form is ho passato. 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 passo il sale a Maria.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io passi il sale a Maria.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use passi here, not the indicative passo.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho passando il sale a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho passato il sale a Maria questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle passato, not the gerund passando. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on passare. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of passare in the Present indicative?
- A) passi
- B) passo
- C) passa
- D) passiamo
What is the lui/lei form of passare in the Passato remoto?
- A) passai
- B) passasti
- C) passò
- D) passammo
What is the noi form of passare in the Imperfect?
- A) passavo
- B) passavi
- C) passava
- D) passavamo
What is the tu form of passare in the Future?
- A) passerai
- B) passerò
- C) passerà
- D) passeremo
What is the io form of passare in the Conditional?
- A) passeresti
- B) passerei
- C) passerebbe
- D) passeremmo
What is the lui/lei form of passare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho passato
- B) hai passato
- C) ha passato
- D) abbiamo passato
What is the lui/lei form of passare in the Present subjunctive?
- A) passiamo
- B) passiate
- C) passino
- D) passi
What is the io form of passare in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) passassi
- B) passasse
- C) passassimo
- D) passaste
What is the gerund of passare?
- A) passato
- B) passando
- C) passare
- D) passo
What does passare mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to pass
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) passo — the correct form is passo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) passò — the correct form is passò. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) passavamo — the correct form is passavamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) passerai — the correct form is passerai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) passerei — the correct form is passerei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha passato — the correct form is ha passato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) passi — the correct form is passi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) passassi — the correct form is passassi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) passando — the correct form is passando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to pass — the correct form is to pass. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does passare mean in English?
passare means “to pass”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is passare regular or irregular?
passare is regular: it follows the ordinary -are pattern in every tense. The gerund is passando and the past participle is passato.
What are the gerund and past participle of passare?
The gerund is passando — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is passato — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho passato.
Which auxiliary does passare take in the passato prossimo?
passare takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho passato. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle passato.
How do I say “I pass” in Italian?
Say “Io passo il sale a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I pass the salt to Maria” The io form of the present is passo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of passare — every tense of passare in one place.
- Passare in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Passare examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Italian present tense guide — the full guide to the present tense in Italian.
- Fare conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Andare 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 passare with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise passare with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise passare with the interactive tool.