Skip to content
fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

telefonare

to phone

  • #167 most used
  • Regular -are verb
  • Past participle: telefonato
  • Gerund: telefonando

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use telefonare

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

  1. Present

    Telefono a mia madre ogni domenica.

    I phone my mother every Sunday.

  2. Past

    Ti ho telefonato tre volte, dov'eri?

    I phoned you three times, where were you?

  3. Imperfect

    Prima telefonavamo, adesso scriviamo messaggi.

    We used to phone, now we send messages.

  4. Future

    Ti telefonerò appena arrivo in albergo.

    I'll phone you as soon as I get to the hotel.

  5. Conditional

    Telefonerei al medico, non aspetterei.

    I'd phone the doctor, I wouldn't wait.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Vuole che le telefoniamo prima di partire.

    She wants us to phone her before we leave.

  7. Imperative

    Telefona al ristorante e prenota per quattro.

    Phone the restaurant and book for four.

Good to know

  • Telefonare a qualcuno: ti telefono stasera; chiamare is more common in speech.

Verbs like this one

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