It's used to talk about what is true at the moment, what generally happens and what is happening nowadays. It's also used to talk about future actions. It corresponds to the English simple present (ie: I eat), present continuous used to talk about the future (ie: I'm going to Rome in one week)

It's used to talk about an action or en event completed at a definite moment in the past. It corresponds to the English present perfect(ie: I have eaten) and simple past (ie: I ate). It expresses what you've done or what has happened once in the past. It's a compound tense formed by an auxiliary with Presente Semplice of essere or avere (check the video "Passato Prossimo - How to choose the auxiliary") and the past participle.

It's used to express continuity or habitual actions in the past. There is no indication of the beginning or the end of the action or whether it was finished or not. It's easy to learn but not so easy to use also because it's much less commonly used in English than in Italian. It corresponds to the English 'marginal' modal verb "used to" (ie: I used to play tennis), or to the Past continuous (ie: while I was going to the pub...).

It's used to express a finished action or fact that happened before another one was completed in the past. It's used in Italian the same way it's used in English. It corresponds to the English had + past participle (ie: I had spoken with her). It's a compound tense formed by an auxiliary with Imperfetto of essere or avere (check the Topic "How to choose the auxiliary") and the past participle.

It's also called the historical past. It's mostly used in narrative writing of one-time events in the past. It's usually seen in books, newspaper and documents. It has been replaced by Passato Prossimo in speech and informal letters. In northen Italy people seem to use the Passato Prossimo more frequently when expressing past events; however, the Passato Remoto is more frequently used in southern Italy, mostly in Sicily, even when speaking of recent happenings.

It's used in place of the Trassato Prossimo but with a similar meaning. It is used to express an action or an event which took place before the one which was indicated by Passato Remoto. It's a compound tense formed by an auxiliary with Passato Remoto of essere or avere (check the Topic "How to choose the auxiliary") and the past participle. This tense is mainly used in writing and literature when the verb in the main clause is in the Passato Remoto.

It's used to express an action which has yet to take place, regardless of whether it is in the near future or distant future. The future tense in Italian consists of a single verb, while in English you can do it using "shall", "will", "going to" or using Present Progressive. Futuro Semplice is also used to make assumptions.

It's used to express an action which will have been completed (finished or "perfected") at some point in the future. It's used in Italian the same way it's used in English. It corresponds to the English Future Perfect Tense (ie: I will have slept)

It's used to express yourself in a courteous manner, to express the possibility of making one's actions a reality, to express a doubt, to express a desire. English forms the present conditional by using the auxiliary "would", Italian forms the Condizionale Presente by adding appropriate endings to the end of the infinitive.

It's used to express a past action that would have been completed in the past if something else had happened and to express a future action in the past. It corresponds to the English use of "would have" + past participle of the verb (ie: I would have spoken)

Congiuntivo is mainly used after verbs which express personal opinions, thoughts or feelings. It also states actions that may take place in the present or in the future. It's always used after "credo che"(I believe that), "penso che"(I think that), "suppongo che"(I suppose that) and some fixed expressions like "è possibile che"(It's possible that),"è necessario che"(It's necessary that),"è importante che"(It's important that) as well as some impersonal expression like "mi sembra che"(It seems to me that).

It's used in a dependent "che" clause to express the speaker's feelings toward a recent past action when the verb in the main clause is in the Presente Semplice. It's a compound tense formed by an auxiliary with Congiuntivo Presente of essere or avere (check the Topic "How to choose the auxiliary") and the past participle.

It's used, like Congiuntivo Presente, after certain verbs or impersonal expressions. The main difference between these two tenses is the time of the action. If the action is in the present, the Presente Congiuntivo is used. If the action is in the past, the Congiuntivo Imperfetto is used. It's also used after "if-clauses".

It's used when the action of the verb in the dependent clause happened before the action of the verb in the main clause, which is in the past. The independent clause is in a past tense or in the conditional. It is formed by an auxiliary with Congiuntivo Imperfetto of essere or avere (check the Topic "How to choose the auxiliary") and the past participle.

It's used to give advice, orders, warnings or exhortations. It doesn't have the "io"(I) form. In Italian there are several types of imperativo: Singular Informal (it corresponds to the third person singular of Presente Semplice for verbs ending in -are, and to the second person singular of Presente Semplice for verbs ending in -ere or -ire) and Singular Formal (it corresponds to the third person singular of Congiuntivo Presente). We also have the Plural ones: for "Noi"(we) and "Voi"(you all) it's exactly the same as Presente Semplice, for "Loro"(they) we use again the Congiuntivo Presente.

It's used to emphasize that the action coincides with the speaking. Presente Progressivo is formed by the Presente Semplice of "stare" (which carries the subject) + the gerund. The gerund is formed by the infinitive of the verb, by omitting the ending -are and adding -ando, or by omitting -ere or -ire and adding -endo.

It's used in the dependant clause to express an ongoing action in the past when another action (usually expressed with Passato Prossimo) happened. Passato Progressivo is formed by the Imperfetto of "stare" (which carries the subject) + the gerund. The gerund is formed by the infinitive of the verb, by omitting the ending -are and adding -ando, or by omitting -ere or -ire and adding -endo.