Conjugation Table for the Italian Verb 'Cercare'

The Italian verb cercare means to look for or to search for. It is a regular, first-conjugation Italian verb and it is also a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object. It is an interesting verb in that it is one of a small group where the verb comes before the infinitive, as in cercare di (to try). 

A Note About First Conjugation Verbs

Infinitives of all regular verbs in Italian end in –are, –ere, or  –ire and are referred to as first-, second-, or third-conjugation verbs, respectively. In English, the infinitive (l'infinito) consists of to + verb. Verbs with infinitives ending in –are are called first-conjugation, or –are, verbs. The present tense of a regular –are verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending, –are, and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem. There is a different ending for each person. Since carcare ends in –are, it is a regular first conjugation verb.

Conjugating "Cercare"

The table gives the pronoun for each conjugation—io (I), tu (you), lui, lei (he, she), noi (we), voi (you plural), and loro (their). The tenses and moods are given in Italian—presente (present), passato prossimo (present perfect), imperfetto (imperfect), trapassato prossimo (past perfect), passato remoto (remote past), trapassato remoto (preterite perfect ), futuro semplice (simple future), and futuro anteriore (future perfect)—first for the indicative, followed by the subjunctive, conditional, infinitive, participle, and gerund forms.

INDICATIVE/INDICATIVO

SUBJUNCTIVE/CONGIUNTIVO

CONDITIONAL/CONDIZIONALE

IMPERATIVE/IMPERATIVO

INFINITIVE/INFINITO

Presente: cercare

Passato: avere cercato

PARTICIPLE/PARTICIPIO

Presente: cercante

Passato: cercato

GERUND/GERUNDIO

Presente: cercando

Passato: avendo cercato