Conjugating Andare in Italian

Busy street Milan, Italy
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As people are always going somewhere, “andare” is an incredibly common verb in Italian, so you’ll want to be very comfortable with conjugating it in all its tenses. What’s more, it’s an irregular verb, so it doesn’t follow the typical -are verb ending pattern. Following, you’ll find conjugation tables with examples so you can become more familiar with how to use it in everyday conversation.

Definitions and "Andare" Basics

"Andare," like many Italian verbs, has a number of varied meanings, including:

  • To go
  • To travel
  • To function
  • To fit

Additionally, "andare" is an intransitive verb, so it does not take a direct object and its "infinito," or infinitive form, is “andare.” Other facts to know about "andare" include:

Indicativo (The Indicative)​

The "indicativo," or "indicative" expresses a factual statement. The tables below present conjugations in the present tense, the present perfect (an action started in the past that either ends in the past or continues to the present), the imperfect (an action that repeated itself routinely over a certain period in the past), the near past (an action that occurred recently), the distant past (an action that occurred quite some time in the past), the simple future (an action that has yet to occur), and the anterior future (known as the future perfect tense in English and involves an action that will start and finish at some point in the future).

Note that in this and the subsequent tables when a verb form starts with a capital letter and ends in final letters separated by a forward slash, it represents the formal version of the verb in either the male or female gender.)

Il Presente (The Present)
io vado (I go) noi andiamo (we go)
tu vai (you go) voi andate (you go, plural)
lui, lei, Lei va (They go) loro, Loro vanno (they go)

Some "esempi" (examples) of the present tense of "andare" in the indicative mood, include:

  • Vanno in piazza, vuoi andare pure tu? ˃ They’re going to the piazza, do you also want to go?
  • Vado a lavoro tutti i giorni tranne la domenica. ˃ I go to work every day except Sunday.
Il Passato Prossimo (Present Perfect)
io sono andato/a (I have gone) noi siamo andati/e (we have gone)
tu sei andato/a (you have gone) voi siete andati/e (you have gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei è andato/a (he, she has gone) loro, Loro sono andati/e (they have gone)

Some examples include:

  • Sei andato alla festa di Marco? Com’era? ˃ You went to Marco’s party? How was it?
  • Dove siete andati giovedì sera? ˃ Where did you (all) go Thursday evening?
L’imperfetto (The Imperfect)
io andavo (I went) noi andavamo (we went)
tu andavi (you went) voi andavate (you went, plural)
lui, lei, Lei andava (he, she went) loro, Loro andavano (they went)

Some examples include:

  • Da bambina andavo spesso al mare con la mia famiglia. ˃ When I was a little girl, I often went to the sea with my parents.
  • Mi ricordo che tu andavi spesso a studiare in biblioteca. ˃ I remember you used to go often to study at the library.
Il Trapassato Prossimo (The Near Past)
io ero andato/a (I had gone) noi eravamo andati/e (we had gone)
tu eri andato/a (you had gone) voi eravate andati/e (you had gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei era andato/a (he, she had gone) loro, Loro erano andati/e (they had gone)

Some examples include:

  • Eravamo già andati al mare quando ci siamo resi conto che stava per piovere. ˃ We had already gone to the sea when we realized that it was about to rain.
  • Mi sono ammalata quando tu eri andato in America. ˃ I became ill when you were in the U.S.
Il Passato Remoto (The Remote Past)
io andai (I went) noi andammo (we went)
tu andasti (you went) voi andaste (you went, plural)
lui, lei, Lei andò (he, she went) loro, Loro andarono (they went)

Some examples include:

  • Audrey Hepburn andò in Africa per aiutare bambini. ˃ Audrey Hepburn went to Africa to help children.
  • Molti italiani andarono in America in cerca di un lavoro. ˃ Lots of Italians went to the United States looking for a job.
Il Trapassato Remoto (The Remote Past)
io fui andato/a (I had gone) noi fummo andati/e (we had gone)
tu fuiste andato/a (you had gone) voi foste andati/e (you had gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei fu andato/a (he, she had gone) loro, Loro furono andati/e (they had gone)

Some examples include:

  • Non appena Sophia Loren fu andata a Roma per girare un nuovo film, un’altra compagnia le offrì un ruolo principale. ˃ Just right after Sophia Loren had gone to Rome to film a new movie another company offered her a principal role.
  • Quando i miei genitori furono andati via, mi misi a dormire. ˃ When my parents had left, I fell asleep.

This tense is rarely used, so don’t worry about mastering it. You’ll only find it in sophisticated writing.

Il Futuro Semplice (The Simple Future)
io andrò (I will go) noi andremo (we will go)
tu andrai (you will go)
voi andrete (you will go, plural)
lui, lei, Lei andrà (he, she will go) loro, Loro andranno (they will go)

Some examples include:

  • Andranno al mercato e poi torneranno a casa. ˃ They will be going to the store and then they will return home.
  • Lui andrà in Italia fra un mese. ˃ He will be going to Italy in a month.
Il Futuro Anteriore (The Anterior Future)
io sarò andato/a (I will have gone) noi saremo andati/e (we will have gone)
tu sarai andato/a (you will have gone) voi sarete andati/e (you will have gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei sarà andato/a (he, she will have gone) loro, Loro saranno andati/e (they will have gone)

Some examples inlcude:

  • Maria è appena partita, sarà andata all’università. ˃ Maria just left, she must have gone to university.
  • Quando saranno andati via, sarà molto tranquillo qua. ˃ When they will have gone away, it will be very calm here.

Congiuntivo (Subjunctive)

Il Presente (The Present)
che io vada (that I go) che (noi) andiamo (that we go)
che tu vada (that you go) che (voi) andiate (that you go, plural)
che lui, lei, Lei vada (that he, she goes) che (loro, Loro) vadano (that they go)

Some examples include:

  • Dubito che vadano a scuola per studiare, oggi c’è una festa da non perdere al mare. ˃ I doubt they are going to school to study, today there is a must-attend party at the seaside.
  • Spero che andiate a vedere la mostra su Pollok, è meravigliosa! ˃ I hope you’re going to visit Pollok’s exibition, it’s amazing!
Il Passato (The Past)
io sia andato/a (I have gone) noi siamo andati/e (we have gone)
tu sia andato/a (you have gone) voi siate andati/e (you have gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei sia andato/a (he, she has gone) loro, Loro siano andati/e (they have gone)

Some examples include:

  • Penso che siano andati nel posto sbagliato. ˃ I think they went to the wrong place.
  • Ritengo che tu sia andato molto bene nell’ultima interrogazione! ˃ I think you did really well in your last oral test!
L’imperfetto (The imperfect)
io andassi (I went) noi andassimo (we went)
tu andassi (you went) voi andaste (you went, plural)
lui, lei, Lei andasse (he, she went) loro, Loro andassero (they went)

Some examples include:

  • Credevo che andassero a Milano per l’expo. ˃ I thought they went to Milan for the Expo.
  • Pensavo che ci andassimo domani! ˃ I thought we were going there tomorrow!
Il Trapassato Prossimo (The Near Past)
io fossi andato/a (I had gone) noi fossimo andati/e (we had gone)
tu fossi andato/a (you had gone) voi foste andati/e (you had gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei fosse andato/a (he, she had gone) loro, Loro fossero andati/e (they had gone)

Some examples include:

  • Se fossimo andati in Italia, avremmo avuto una bella vacanza. ˃ If we had gone to Italy, we would have had a great vacation.
  • Se tu fossi andata alla festa, avresti visto Marco. ˃ If you had gone to the party, you would have seen Marco.

Condizionale (Conditional)

Il Presente (The Present)
io andrei (I would go) noi andremmo (we would go)
tu andresti (you would go) voi andreste (you would go, plural)
lui, lei, Lei andrebbe (he, she would go) loro, Loro andrebbero (they would go)

Some examples include:

  • Se volessimo fare un viaggio in Spagna, andrebbero con noi? ˃ If we wanted to take a trip to Spain, would they go with us?
  • Se dovessi scegliere, andrei con loro. ˃ If I had to choose, I’d go with them.
Il Passato (The Past)
io sarei andato/a (I would have gone) noi saremmo andati/e (we would have gone)
tu saresti andato/a (you would have gone) voi sareste andati/e (you would have gone, plural)
lui, lei, Lei sarebbe andato/a (he, should would have gone) loro, Loro sarebbero andati/e (they would have gone)

Esempi:

  • Sarei andato al mare, però mia madre aveva bisogno del mio aiuto. ˃ I would have gone to the seaside, but my mom needed my help.
  • Saremmo andati in Spagna, però ci hanno detto che non volevano fare un viaggio là. ˃ We would have gone to Spain, but they told us that they didn’t want to take a trip there.

Imperativo (Imperative)

Presente (Present)
-- noi andiamo (we go)
tu va’, vai (you go) voi andate (you go, plural)
lui, lei, Lei vada (he, she goes0 loro, Loro vadano (they go)

Some examples include:

  • Va’ a scuola! ˃ Go to school! (informal)
  • Vada dal dentista! ˃ Go the dentist! (formal)
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Hale, Cher. "Conjugating Andare in Italian." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/using-the-verb-andare-in-italian-4051898. Hale, Cher. (2023, April 5). Conjugating Andare in Italian. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/using-the-verb-andare-in-italian-4051898 Hale, Cher. "Conjugating Andare in Italian." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/using-the-verb-andare-in-italian-4051898 (accessed March 29, 2024).