Trovare Conjugation in Italian
trovare means “to find” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 75 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. It means to find something lost and to find something out, and it is completely regular. It also appears in the expression for finding oneself somewhere, and in the passive-like use where something 'is found' somewhere. This page gives you the complete conjugation of trovare — 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 trovo le chiavi ogni giorno.” — “I find the keys.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: trovare
- English: to find
- Verb type: Regular -are verb
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: trovando
- Present participle: trovante
- Past participle: trovato
- 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 trovare, 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 trovare in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about trovare
- 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 trovato. 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 trovante and trovato: 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 trovare. 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 | trovo |
| tu | trovi |
| lui/lei | trova |
| noi | troviamo |
| voi | trovate |
| loro | trovano |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io trovo le chiavi ogni giorno.” — “I find the keys”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | trovai |
| tu | trovasti |
| lui/lei | trovò |
| noi | trovammo |
| voi | trovaste |
| loro | trovarono |
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 trovai le chiavi ieri.” — “I found the keys”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | trovavo |
| tu | trovavi |
| lui/lei | trovava |
| noi | trovavamo |
| voi | trovavate |
| loro | trovavano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io trovavo le chiavi una volta.” — “I used to find the keys”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | troverò |
| tu | troverai |
| lui/lei | troverà |
| noi | troveremo |
| voi | troverete |
| loro | troveranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io troverò le chiavi domani.” — “I will find the keys”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | troverei |
| tu | troveresti |
| lui/lei | troverebbe |
| noi | troveremmo |
| voi | trovereste |
| loro | troverebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io troverei le chiavi un giorno.” — “I would find the keys”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho trovato |
| tu | hai trovato |
| lui/lei | ha trovato |
| noi | abbiamo trovato |
| voi | avete trovato |
| loro | hanno trovato |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha trovato le chiavi questa settimana.” — “He has found the keys”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo trovato |
| tu | avevi trovato |
| lui/lei | aveva trovato |
| noi | avevamo trovato |
| voi | avevate trovato |
| loro | avevano trovato |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo trovato le chiavi prima della festa.” — “I had found the keys”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò trovato |
| tu | avrai trovato |
| lui/lei | avrà trovato |
| noi | avremo trovato |
| voi | avrete trovato |
| loro | avranno trovato |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò trovato le chiavi per domani.” — “I will have found the keys”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei trovato |
| tu | avresti trovato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe trovato |
| noi | avremmo trovato |
| voi | avreste trovato |
| loro | avrebbero trovato |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei trovato le chiavi ieri.” — “I would have found the keys”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | trovi |
| tu | trovi |
| lui/lei | trovi |
| noi | troviamo |
| voi | troviate |
| loro | trovino |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io trovi le chiavi.” — “It is important that I find the keys”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | trovassi |
| tu | trovassi |
| lui/lei | trovasse |
| noi | trovassimo |
| voi | trovaste |
| loro | trovassero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io trovassi le chiavi.” — “It was important that I find the keys”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | trova |
| lui/lei | trovi |
| noi | troviamo |
| voi | trovate |
| loro | trovino |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Trova le chiavi!” — “Find the keys!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | trovare |
| lui/lei | trovi |
| noi | troviamo |
| voi | troviate |
| loro | trovino |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non trovare le chiavi.” — “Do not find the keys.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | trovando |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Trovando le chiavi, imparo molto.” — “While finding the keys, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | trovante |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle trovante 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 | trovato |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho trovato le chiavi questa settimana.” — “I have found the keys.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with trovare, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io trovo le chiavi ogni giorno.” — “I find the keys”
- “Tu trovasti le chiavi ieri.” — “You found the keys”
- “Lui trovava le chiavi una volta.” — “He used to find the keys”
- “Io troverò le chiavi domani.” — “I will find the keys”
- “Tu troveresti le chiavi un giorno.” — “You would find the keys”
- “Lui ha trovato le chiavi questa settimana.” — “He has found the keys”
- “Io avevo trovato le chiavi prima della festa.” — “I had found the keys”
- “Tu avrai trovato le chiavi per domani.” — “You will have found the keys”
- “È importante che io trovi le chiavi.” — “It is important that I find the keys”
- “Trova le chiavi!” — “Find the keys!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io trovare le chiavi.”
✓ Right: “Io trovo le chiavi ogni giorno.”
The infinitive trovare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form trovo.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io trovi le chiavi.”
✓ Right: “Io trovo le chiavi ogni giorno.”
trovi is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with trovo.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io trovo le chiavi ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho trovato le chiavi questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho trovato for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono trovato le chiavi.”
✓ Right: “Io ho trovato le chiavi questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of trovare is formed with avere plus the past participle trovato: the io form is ho trovato. 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 trovo le chiavi.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io trovi le chiavi.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use trovi here, not the indicative trovo.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho trovando le chiavi.”
✓ Right: “Io ho trovato le chiavi questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle trovato, not the gerund trovando. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on trovare. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of trovare in the Present indicative?
- A) trovi
- B) trovo
- C) trova
- D) troviamo
What is the lui/lei form of trovare in the Passato remoto?
- A) trovai
- B) trovasti
- C) trovò
- D) trovammo
What is the noi form of trovare in the Imperfect?
- A) trovavo
- B) trovavi
- C) trovava
- D) trovavamo
What is the tu form of trovare in the Future?
- A) troverai
- B) troverò
- C) troverà
- D) troveremo
What is the io form of trovare in the Conditional?
- A) troveresti
- B) troverei
- C) troverebbe
- D) troveremmo
What is the lui/lei form of trovare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho trovato
- B) hai trovato
- C) ha trovato
- D) abbiamo trovato
What is the lui/lei form of trovare in the Present subjunctive?
- A) troviamo
- B) troviate
- C) trovino
- D) trovi
What is the io form of trovare in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) trovassi
- B) trovasse
- C) trovassimo
- D) trovaste
What is the gerund of trovare?
- A) trovato
- B) trovando
- C) trovare
- D) trovo
What does trovare mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to find
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) trovo — the correct form is trovo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) trovò — the correct form is trovò. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) trovavamo — the correct form is trovavamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) troverai — the correct form is troverai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) troverei — the correct form is troverei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha trovato — the correct form is ha trovato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) trovi — the correct form is trovi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) trovassi — the correct form is trovassi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) trovando — the correct form is trovando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to find — the correct form is to find. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does trovare mean in English?
trovare means “to find”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is trovare regular or irregular?
trovare is regular: it follows the ordinary -are pattern in every tense. The gerund is trovando and the past participle is trovato.
What are the gerund and past participle of trovare?
The gerund is trovando — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is trovato — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho trovato.
Which auxiliary does trovare take in the passato prossimo?
trovare takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho trovato. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle trovato.
How do I say “I find” in Italian?
Say “Io trovo le chiavi ogni giorno.” — “I find the keys” The io form of the present is trovo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of trovare — every tense of trovare in one place.
- Trovare in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Trovare 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 trovare with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise trovare with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise trovare with the interactive tool.