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fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

funzionare

to work (of a machine)

  • #106 most used
  • Regular -are verb
  • Past participle: funzionato
  • Gerund: funzionando

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use funzionare

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

  1. Present

    L'ascensore non funziona, prendiamo le scale.

    The lift isn't working, let's take the stairs.

  2. Past

    Il tuo trucco ha funzionato, grazie!

    Your trick worked, thanks!

  3. Imperfect

    Il riscaldamento non funzionava da due giorni.

    The heating hadn't been working for two days.

  4. Future

    Vedrai che il piano funzionerà.

    You'll see, the plan will work.

  5. Conditional

    Funzionerebbe meglio con una batteria nuova.

    It would work better with a new battery.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Spero che il wifi funzioni in albergo.

    I hope the wifi works at the hotel.

  7. Imperative

    Funziona, ti prego, ho una riunione tra poco!

    Work, please, I've got a meeting soon!

Good to know

  • Funzionare is for machines and plans; for a person who works, use lavorare.

Where you hear funzionare

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Italian · Beginner Level 1

  • Il forno della scuola funziona da cinquant'anni. The school's oven has worked for fifty years.
  • Dopo la pentola, il mio telefono non ha più funzionato. After the pot, my phone never worked again.
  • Lascialo nel riso: domani funzionerà! Leave it in the rice: tomorrow it'll work!

Italian · Beginner Level 2

  • Il forno della scuola funziona da cinquant'anni. The school's oven has worked for fifty years.
  • Dopo la pentola, il mio telefono non ha più funzionato. After the pot, my phone never worked again.
  • Lascialo nel riso: domani funzionerà! Leave it in the rice: tomorrow it'll work!
10
The Dishwasher Broke

Beginner Level 2 · Non funziona.

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The Oven Breaks

Advanced Level 3 · Vediamo. Da quando non funziona? · Non funziona più.

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Verbs like this one

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