Potere Conjugation in Italian
potere means “to be able to” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 7 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. It is a modal verb meaning 'to be able to' or 'can', and it is always followed by another verb in the infinitive. It has no imperative of its own in everyday use, and its present forms are irregular, so learn them as a set. This page gives you the complete conjugation of potere — 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 posso italiano ogni giorno.” — “I can speak Italian.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: potere
- English: to be able to
- Verb type: Irregular -ere verb
- Irregular in: present, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: potendo
- Present participle: potente
- Past participle: potuto
- 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 potere, 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 potere in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about potere
- It is irregular in 8 tense(s): present, 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 potuto. 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 potente and potuto: 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 potere. 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 | posso |
| tu | puoi |
| lui/lei | può |
| noi | possiamo |
| voi | potete |
| loro | possono |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io posso italiano ogni giorno.” — “I can speak Italian”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | potei |
| tu | potesti |
| lui/lei | poté |
| noi | potemmo |
| voi | poteste |
| loro | poterono |
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 potei italiano ieri.” — “I could speak Italian”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | potevo |
| tu | potevi |
| lui/lei | poteva |
| noi | potevamo |
| voi | potevate |
| loro | potevano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io potevo italiano una volta.” — “I used to can speak Italian”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | potrò |
| tu | potrai |
| lui/lei | potrà |
| noi | potremo |
| voi | potrete |
| loro | potranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io potrò italiano domani.” — “I will can speak Italian”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | potrei |
| tu | potresti |
| lui/lei | potrebbe |
| noi | potremmo |
| voi | potreste |
| loro | potrebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io potrei italiano un giorno.” — “I would can speak Italian”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho potuto |
| tu | hai potuto |
| lui/lei | ha potuto |
| noi | abbiamo potuto |
| voi | avete potuto |
| loro | hanno potuto |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha potuto italiano questa settimana.” — “He has been able to speak Italian”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo potuto |
| tu | avevi potuto |
| lui/lei | aveva potuto |
| noi | avevamo potuto |
| voi | avevate potuto |
| loro | avevano potuto |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo potuto italiano prima della festa.” — “I had been able to speak Italian”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò potuto |
| tu | avrai potuto |
| lui/lei | avrà potuto |
| noi | avremo potuto |
| voi | avrete potuto |
| loro | avranno potuto |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò potuto italiano per domani.” — “I will have been able to speak Italian”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei potuto |
| tu | avresti potuto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe potuto |
| noi | avremmo potuto |
| voi | avreste potuto |
| loro | avrebbero potuto |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei potuto italiano ieri.” — “I would have been able to speak Italian”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | possa |
| tu | possa |
| lui/lei | possa |
| noi | possiamo |
| voi | possiate |
| loro | possano |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io possa italiano.” — “It is important that I can speak Italian”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | potessi |
| tu | potessi |
| lui/lei | potesse |
| noi | potessimo |
| voi | poteste |
| loro | potessero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io potessi italiano.” — “It was important that I can speak Italian”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | — |
| lui/lei | — |
| noi | — |
| voi | — |
| loro | — |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “— italiano!” — “Can speak Italian!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | potere |
| lui/lei | possa |
| noi | possiamo |
| voi | possiate |
| loro | possano |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non potere italiano.” — “Do not can speak Italian.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | potendo |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Potendo italiano, imparo molto.” — “While being able to speak Italian, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | potente |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle potente 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 | potuto |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho potuto italiano questa settimana.” — “I have been able to speak Italian.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with potere, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io posso italiano ogni giorno.” — “I can speak Italian”
- “Tu potesti italiano ieri.” — “You could speak Italian”
- “Lui poteva italiano una volta.” — “He used to can speak Italian”
- “Io potrò italiano domani.” — “I will can speak Italian”
- “Tu potresti italiano un giorno.” — “You would can speak Italian”
- “Lui ha potuto italiano questa settimana.” — “He has been able to speak Italian”
- “Io avevo potuto italiano prima della festa.” — “I had been able to speak Italian”
- “Tu avrai potuto italiano per domani.” — “You will have been able to speak Italian”
- “È importante che io possa italiano.” — “It is important that I can speak Italian”
- “— italiano!” — “Can speak Italian!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io potere italiano.”
✓ Right: “Io posso italiano ogni giorno.”
The infinitive potere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form posso.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io puoi italiano.”
✓ Right: “Io posso italiano ogni giorno.”
puoi is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with posso.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io posso italiano ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho potuto italiano questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho potuto for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono potuto italiano.”
✓ Right: “Io ho potuto italiano questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of potere is formed with avere plus the past participle potuto: the io form is ho potuto. 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 posso italiano.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io possa italiano.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use possa here, not the indicative posso.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho potendo italiano.”
✓ Right: “Io ho potuto italiano questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle potuto, not the gerund potendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on potere. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of potere in the Present indicative?
- A) puoi
- B) posso
- C) può
- D) possiamo
What is the lui/lei form of potere in the Passato remoto?
- A) potei
- B) potesti
- C) poté
- D) potemmo
What is the noi form of potere in the Imperfect?
- A) potevo
- B) potevi
- C) poteva
- D) potevamo
What is the tu form of potere in the Future?
- A) potrai
- B) potrò
- C) potrà
- D) potremo
What is the io form of potere in the Conditional?
- A) potresti
- B) potrei
- C) potrebbe
- D) potremmo
What is the lui/lei form of potere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho potuto
- B) hai potuto
- C) ha potuto
- D) abbiamo potuto
What is the lui/lei form of potere in the Present subjunctive?
- A) possiamo
- B) possiate
- C) possano
- D) possa
What is the io form of potere in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) potessi
- B) potesse
- C) potessimo
- D) poteste
What is the gerund of potere?
- A) potuto
- B) potendo
- C) potere
- D) posso
What does potere mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to be able to
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) posso — the correct form is posso. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) poté — the correct form is poté. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) potevamo — the correct form is potevamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) potrai — the correct form is potrai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) potrei — the correct form is potrei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha potuto — the correct form is ha potuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) possa — the correct form is possa. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) potessi — the correct form is potessi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) potendo — the correct form is potendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to be able to — the correct form is to be able to. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does potere mean in English?
potere means “to be able to”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is potere regular or irregular?
potere is irregular: it is irregular in present, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is potendo and the past participle is potuto.
What are the gerund and past participle of potere?
The gerund is potendo — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is potuto — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho potuto.
Which auxiliary does potere take in the passato prossimo?
potere takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho potuto. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle potuto.
How do I say “I can speak” in Italian?
Say “Io posso italiano ogni giorno.” — “I can speak Italian” The io form of the present is posso, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of potere — every tense of potere in one place.
- Potere in the passato prossimo tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Potere 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 potere with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise potere with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise potere with the interactive tool.