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ITALIAN VERB

cenare

to have dinner

  • #288 most used
  • Regular -are verb
  • Past participle: cenato
  • Gerund: cenando

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. io I have dinner
  2. tu you have dinner
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she has dinner
  4. noi we have dinner
  5. voi you all have dinner
  6. loro they have dinner

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

  1. io I had dinner
  2. tu you had dinner
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she had dinner
  4. noi we had dinner
  5. voi you all had dinner
  6. loro they had dinner

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. io I used to have dinner
  2. tu you used to have dinner
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she used to have dinner
  4. noi we used to have dinner
  5. voi you all used to have dinner
  6. loro they used to have dinner

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

  1. io I will have dinner
  2. tu you will have dinner
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she will have dinner
  4. noi we will have dinner
  5. voi you all will have dinner
  6. loro they will have dinner

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

  1. io I would have dinner
  2. tu you would have dinner
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she would have dinner
  4. noi we would have dinner
  5. voi you all would have dinner
  6. loro they would have dinner

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

  1. io (that) I have dinner
  2. tu (that) you have dinner
  3. lui, lei, Lei (that) he/she have dinner
  4. noi (that) we have dinner
  5. voi (that) you all have dinner
  6. loro (that) they have dinner

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders: tu, Lei, noi, voi

  1. tu have dinner!
  2. Lei have dinner! (formal)
  3. noi have dinner! (let’s)
  4. voi have dinner! (all of you)

How to use cenare

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Di solito ceniamo verso le otto e mezza.

    We usually have dinner around half past eight.

  2. Past

    Ieri sera abbiamo cenato in una trattoria sul mare.

    Last night we had dinner at a trattoria by the sea.

  3. Imperfect

    D'estate cenavamo sempre in terrazza.

    In summer we always had dinner on the terrace.

  4. Future

    Stasera cenerò da mia sorella.

    Tonight I'll have dinner at my sister's.

  5. Conditional

    Ceneresti con noi sabato sera?

    Would you have dinner with us on Saturday evening?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Preferisco che ceniate prima di partire.

    I'd rather you had dinner before leaving.

  7. Imperative

    Cena pure senza di me, faccio tardi.

    Go ahead and have dinner without me, I'll be late.

Good to know

  • In Italy you cenare around eight or later; lunch is pranzare.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -are verb.