Trovare Conjugation in Italian: All Tenses + Examples

You hear trovare everywhere in Italian. “Non trovo le chiavi!” (I can’t find the keys!) “Ho trovato un ristorante fantastico.” (I found a fantastic restaurant.) Yet when it comes to actually conjugating this verb, many learners hesitate. The good news is that trovare is a regular -are verb, which means once you know the pattern, you can apply it to hundreds of other verbs. Even better, the forms are predictable and straightforward.

Trovare in the present tense

The present tense of trovare follows the standard -are verb pattern. Drop the -are ending and add the appropriate endings for each subject pronoun.

🔊 Non trovo il mio telefono. (I can't find my phone.)

🔊 Trovi sempre la soluzione giusta. (You always find the right solution.)

🔊 Troviamo difficile capire il dialetto. (We find it difficult to understand the dialect.)

Notice the stem trov- stays constant throughout the present tense. The endings -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano are the same for all regular -are verbs, making trovare an excellent model to learn.

Pro Tip: In Italian, trovare can also mean “to think” or “to consider” when followed by an adjective: Trovo interessante questo libro (I find this book interesting).

Trovare in the passato prossimo

The passato prossimo of trovare uses avere as the auxiliary plus the past participle trovato. When used actively with a direct object, trovare takes avere. The reflexive form trovarsi and the passive voice take essere instead (see below).

🔊 Ho trovato un appartamento in centro. (I found a flat in the city centre.)

🔊 Hai trovato le chiavi? (Did you find the keys?)

🔊 Le chiavi? Sì, le ho trovate. (The keys? Yes, I found them.)

🔊 Abbiamo trovato un ristorante eccellente. (We found an excellent restaurant.)

Past participle agreement

The past participle trovato is formed regularly: drop -are and add -ato. With avere, the participle normally stays unchanged, but it must agree in gender and number when a direct-object pronoun (lo, la, li, le) comes before the verb:

• L’ho trovata. (I found it. — referring to la chiave)
• Li ho trovati. (I found them. — referring to i documenti)
• Ne ho trovate due. (I found two of them. — ne requires agreement)

Agreement is optional with mi, ti, ci, vi (Mi ha trovato/trovata) and is not normally used after che (le chiavi che ho trovato).

For more on when to use avere vs essere as auxiliaries in compound tenses, see our guide on essere vs avere in Italian.

Trovare in the imperfect tense

The imperfect (imperfetto) of trovare describes ongoing or habitual actions in the past. The stem remains trov- and you add the imperfect endings.

🔊 Da bambino, trovavo sempre monete per strada. (As a child, I always used to find coins on the street.)

🔊 Prima degli smartphone, trovavamo difficile orientarci nelle città nuove. (Before smartphones, we found it difficult to navigate in unfamiliar cities.)

The imperfect is perfect for describing opinions or states of mind in the past. Compare Ho trovato il film noioso (I found the film boring — a completed judgement after watching) with Mentre lo guardavo, trovavo il film un po’ lento (While I was watching it, I was finding the film a bit slow — an ongoing impression).

For a deeper look at choosing between passato prossimo and imperfetto, check out our guide on passato prossimo vs imperfetto.

Trovare in the future tense

The future tense of trovare is regular. For -are verbs, the characteristic vowel a changes to e before the future endings.

🔊 Troverò una soluzione, te lo prometto. (I will find a solution, I promise you.)

🔊 Troverai il ristorante sulla destra. (You will find the restaurant on the right.)

🔊 Troveranno il modo di aiutarci. (They will find a way to help us.)

The stem trover- plus the regular future endings (-ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, -anno) gives you all the forms. Note the accent on troverò and troverà marking the stress on the final syllable.

Pro Tip: In spoken Italian, the future is often replaced by the present tense for near-future events: Domani vengo a trovarti (I’ll come and see you tomorrow). The expression andare/venire a trovare qualcuno is the natural way to say “to visit someone.”

Trovare in the conditional

The conditional of trovare uses the same stem as the future (trover-) but with conditional endings. Use it for polite requests, hypothetical situations, and wishes.

🔊 Troverei strano non avere sue notizie. (I would find it strange not to hear from him.)

🔊 Se cercassi meglio, troveresti la risposta. (If you searched more carefully, you would find the answer.)

🔊 Troveremmo un modo se avessimo più tempo. (We would find a way if we had more time.)

The conditional is especially useful when expressing opinions diplomatically: Troverei più giusto aspettare (I would find it fairer to wait) softens the statement compared to the direct present tense.

For more on using the conditional mood in Italian, see our guide on Italian conditional tense.

Trovare vs cercare: what’s the difference?

This is where many learners get confused. Cercare means “to look for” or “to search”; trovare means “to find.” The key difference is that cercare describes the action of seeking, while trovare describes the result — and you can find something without ever having looked for it.

• Cercare = to look for, to search (the action of seeking)
• Trovare = to find (the result or discovery)

Think of it this way: you cerchi (search/look for) something, and if you’re lucky, you trovi (find) it. But you might also trovare something by chance: Ho trovato un portafoglio per strada (I found a wallet in the street) — no searching involved.

As the Italian proverb says: Chi cerca trova — “He who seeks, finds.”

Key usage differences

Cercare describes the effort, the process:

🔊 Sto cercando un regalo per mia madre. (I'm looking for a gift for my mother.)

🔊 Cercavano un albergo vicino alla stazione. (They were looking for a hotel near the station.)

Trovare describes the outcome, the discovery:

🔊 Finalmente ho trovato quello che cercavo. (I finally found what I was looking for.)

🔊 Abbiamo trovato un appartamento perfetto. (We found a perfect flat.)

Cercare di + infinitive

Cercare has a special construction: cercare di + infinitive means “to try to”:

🔊 Cerco di parlare italiano ogni giorno. (I try to speak Italian every day.)

🔊 Cercate di arrivare in orario. (Try to arrive on time.)

This construction has nothing to do with physical searching. It’s an important idiomatic use of cercare that trovare cannot replace.

For the complete conjugation of cercare, including its spelling changes (the h is added to preserve the hard “c” sound in forms like cerchi, cerchiamo in the present and cercherò, cercherei in the future and conditional), see our cercare conjugation tables.

Trovarsi: the reflexive form

Trovare has a reflexive form, trovarsi, which has several distinct meanings:

• To find oneself / to be (in a situation): Mi sono trovato in difficoltà (I found myself in difficulty)
• To be located: Dove si trova la stazione? (Where is the station?)
• To feel / to get on: Mi trovo bene con i colleghi (I get on well with my colleagues)
• To meet up: Ci troviamo alle otto davanti al cinema (Let’s meet at eight in front of the cinema)

🔊 Mi trovo bene in questa città. (I feel comfortable in this city. / I'm doing well in this city.)

🔊 Dove si trova la stazione? (Where is the station located?)

🔊 Ci siamo trovati in una situazione difficile. (We found ourselves in a difficult situation.)

🔊 Mi trovo bene con i colleghi. (I get on well with my colleagues.)

🔊 Ci troviamo alle otto davanti al cinema. (Let's meet at eight in front of the cinema.)

Note that trovarsi uses essere as its auxiliary in compound tenses (not avere), and the past participle agrees with the subject: Mi sono trovato (masculine) vs Mi sono trovata (feminine), Ci siamo trovati (masculine/mixed plural) vs Ci siamo trovate (feminine plural).

Pro Tip: Dove si trova…? is one of the most useful travel phrases in Italian. It works for asking about the location of anything: hotels, restaurants, bathrooms, train stations.

Common expressions with trovare

Italian has several fixed expressions using trovare:

• Trovare il tempo — to find the time
• Trovare la forza — to find the strength
• Trovare un accordo — to reach an agreement
• Non trovare le parole — to be lost for words (literally: not to find the words)
• Trovarsi d’accordo — to agree with each other
• Trovare da ridire — to find fault, to criticise
• Andare/venire a trovare qualcuno — to visit someone

🔊 Non trovo le parole per ringraziarti. (I can't find the words to thank you. / I'm lost for words.)

🔊 Trova sempre da ridire su tutto. (He always finds fault with everything.)

🔊 Domenica vengo a trovarti. (I'll come and visit you on Sunday.)

Summary

Trovare is a high-frequency Italian verb that every learner needs to master. As a regular -are verb, it follows predictable patterns across all tenses:

• Present: trovo, trovi, trova, troviamo, trovate, trovano
• Passato prossimo: ho trovato, hai trovato, ha trovato…
• Imperfect: trovavo, trovavi, trovava…
• Future: troverò, troverai, troverà…
• Conditional: troverei, troveresti, troverebbe…

Remember the key distinction: cercare is the search, trovare is the discovery. And you can trovare something without ever having cercato it. Master both, and you’ll navigate Italian conversations about finding (and looking for) anything.

For quick reference, see our complete trovare conjugation tables, and visit our Italian learning hub for more verb guides.

FAQ

Is trovare regular or irregular?

Trovare is a regular -are verb. It follows the standard conjugation pattern for -are verbs across all tenses, making it an excellent verb to learn as a model.

What is the past participle of trovare?

The past participle is trovato. It’s formed regularly by dropping -are and adding -ato. In compound tenses, active trovare uses avere as its auxiliary (ho trovato, “I found”), while the reflexive trovarsi uses essere (mi sono trovato/a, “I found myself”) and the past participle agrees with the subject. The passive voice also uses essere (è stato trovato, “it was found”).

What’s the difference between trovare and cercare?

Cercare means “to look for” or “to search” and describes the action of seeking. Trovare means “to find” and describes the result or discovery. You cerchi (look for) something and then trovi (find) it — but you can also trovare something by chance, without having searched for it.

How do you say “I found” in Italian?

“I found” is ho trovato in Italian. This is the first person singular of the passato prossimo tense. Example: Ho trovato le chiavi! (I found the keys!). When a direct-object pronoun precedes the verb, the participle agrees: Le ho trovate (I found them).

What does trovarsi mean?

Trovarsi is the reflexive form of trovare. It has several meanings: “to find oneself” or “to be” in a situation (Mi sono trovato in difficoltà); “to be located” (Dove si trova la banca?); “to feel” or “to get on” (Mi trovo bene qui); and “to meet up” (Ci troviamo alle otto). Unlike active trovare, trovarsi uses essere in compound tenses and agrees with the subject.