Attrarre (to attract) is the most everyday member of the trarre family. While the parent verb trarre is heavily literary, its prefixed derivative attrarre is fully alive in modern conversational and journalistic Italian: a city attracts tourists (la città attrae turisti), a person can be attracted to another (essere attratto da), a magnet attracts iron (il magnete attrae il ferro), an offer attracts customers (un'offerta attrae clienti).
Etymologically attrarre comes from Latin attrahĕre (ad- + trahĕre, "to draw toward"). It follows the trarre paradigm without exception: every form below is a direct analogue of trarre, with the prefix at- simply added. If you've internalised trarre's irregular present (traggo, trai, trae, traiamo, traete, traggono), the present of attrarre falls out automatically (attraggo, attrai, attrae, attraiamo, attraete, attraggono).
Indicativo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | attraggo |
| tu | attrai |
| lui / lei / Lei | attrae |
| noi | attraiamo |
| voi | attraete |
| loro | attraggono |
The same four-shape distribution as trarre: strong attragg- in 1sg and 3pl; simple attra- in the other four persons. The 2sg attrai has no separate -i suffix — the -i is just the 2sg desinence on the bare stem attra-.
Questa città attrae milioni di turisti ogni anno.
This city attracts millions of tourists every year.
Cosa ti attrae di più di lui? Il senso dell'umorismo o l'intelligenza?
What attracts you most about him? His sense of humour or his intelligence?
Le promozioni online attraggono soprattutto i più giovani.
Online promotions especially attract younger customers.
Non mi attraggono per niente i film d'azione.
Action films don't attract me at all.
Imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | attraevo |
| tu | attraevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | attraeva |
| noi | attraevamo |
| voi | attraevate |
| loro | attraevano |
Built from the simple attra- stem with regular -ere imperfect endings — perfectly predictable, exactly like traevo. No double-g, no contraction.
Da giovane mi attraeva l'idea di vivere all'estero.
When I was young, the idea of living abroad attracted me.
Quel quartiere attraeva soprattutto giovani artisti e musicisti.
That neighbourhood mainly attracted young artists and musicians.
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | attrassi |
| tu | attraesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | attrasse |
| noi | attraemmo |
| voi | attraeste |
| loro | attrassero |
The "1-3-3" pattern: strong attrass- (with double ss) in 1sg, 3sg, 3pl; weak attra- in the other three. The double ss descends from Latin attrāxī, the perfect of attrahĕre. Always attrassi, never attrasi.
La novità del progetto attrasse molti finanziatori internazionali.
The novelty of the project attracted many international investors.
Le sue parole attrassero subito l'attenzione dei presenti.
His words immediately drew the attention of those present.
Futuro semplice
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | attrarrò |
| tu | attrarrai |
| lui / lei / Lei | attrarrà |
| noi | attrarremo |
| voi | attrarrete |
| loro | attrarranno |
Future stem attrarr- with double rr, contracted exactly like trarr-. Don't write attrarò (single r) — non-form.
La nuova mostra attrarrà sicuramente migliaia di visitatori.
The new exhibition will definitely draw thousands of visitors.
Con questi prezzi non attrarremo i clienti più giovani.
With these prices we won't attract younger customers.
Condizionale presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | attrarrei |
| tu | attrarresti |
| lui / lei / Lei | attrarrebbe |
| noi | attrarremmo |
| voi | attrarreste |
| loro | attrarrebbero |
Same contracted attrarr- stem. Watch attrarremmo (conditional, double m) vs attrarremo (future, single m).
Con un buon marketing attrarremmo molti più clienti.
With good marketing we'd attract many more customers.
Quella proposta attrarrebbe l'interesse di parecchi investitori.
That proposal would attract the interest of quite a few investors.
Congiuntivo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | attragga |
| (che) tu | attragga |
| (che) lui / lei | attragga |
| (che) noi | attraiamo |
| (che) voi | attraiate |
| (che) loro | attraggano |
Strong attragg- in singulars and 3pl; simple attra- in noi and voi. The three singular forms collapse into attragga.
Non credo che il film attragga molto pubblico al cinema.
I don't think the film will draw much of an audience at the cinema.
Speriamo che la pubblicità attragga nuovi clienti.
Let's hope the advertising attracts new customers.
Congiuntivo imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | attraessi |
| (che) tu | attraessi |
| (che) lui / lei | attraesse |
| (che) noi | attraessimo |
| (che) voi | attraeste |
| (che) loro | attraessero |
Se attraessimo più investitori, potremmo espanderci.
If we attracted more investors, we could expand.
Pensavo che lo attraessero soprattutto le donne intelligenti.
I thought he was attracted mainly to intelligent women.
Imperativo
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | attrai |
| Lei (formal) | attragga |
| noi | attraiamo |
| voi | attraete |
| loro (formal pl.) | attraggano |
The imperative is uncommon (you rarely "command" attraction), but it appears in marketing and business contexts: Attraete nuovi clienti con la nostra strategia! ("Attract new customers with our strategy!").
Forme non finite
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | attrarre |
| Infinito passato | avere attratto / aver attratto |
| Gerundio presente | attraendo |
| Gerundio passato | avendo attratto |
| Participio passato | attratto |
| Participio presente | attraente |
Three points worth flagging:
Gerundio attraendo — built from the simple stem, with -endo. Don't write attrarrendo; the contracted attrarr- stem appears only in future and conditional.
Participio passato attratto — double tt, from Latin attractum via the regular -ct- → -tt- shift. Used both as a verb form (ho attratto — "I've attracted") and as an adjective with full agreement (sono attratto/a/i/e — "I am / we are attracted").
Participio presente attraente — this one has fully lexicalised as a free-standing adjective meaning "attractive." It is the everyday word — far more common than the verb itself in casual speech: un uomo attraente, una donna attraente, un'offerta attraente, un sorriso attraente. Recognising it as the present participle of attrarre helps you see why it has the -ente ending it does.
Marco è un uomo molto attraente, ma non è il mio tipo.
Marco is a very attractive man, but he's not my type.
Attraendo nuovi giovani talenti, l'azienda è cresciuta in fretta.
By attracting new young talent, the company grew quickly.
Compound tenses
Attrarre is transitive and uses avere as its auxiliary. The participle attratto does not normally agree with the subject in compound tenses — but it does agree with a preceding direct-object pronoun: l'ho attratta (la sua attenzione), li ho attratti (i clienti), le ho attratte (le ragazze).
A separate but very common construction is the passive / adjectival use: essere attratto da ("to be attracted to"), where attratto agrees with the subject like an adjective: Maria è attratta da lui, i ragazzi sono attratti dal pericolo.
| Tense | io | noi |
|---|---|---|
| Passato prossimo | ho attratto | abbiamo attratto |
| Trapassato prossimo | avevo attratto | avevamo attratto |
| Trapassato remoto | ebbi attratto | avemmo attratto |
| Futuro anteriore | avrò attratto | avremo attratto |
| Condizionale passato | avrei attratto | avremmo attratto |
| Congiuntivo passato | abbia attratto | abbiamo attratto |
| Congiuntivo trapassato | avessi attratto | avessimo attratto |
La mostra ha attratto oltre centomila visitatori in tre mesi.
The exhibition attracted over a hundred thousand visitors in three months.
Sono sempre stata attratta dalla musica classica.
I've always been attracted to classical music. (female speaker)
Non l'ho mai attratta — eravamo solo amici.
I never attracted her — we were just friends.
Idiomatic and collocational usage
Some core collocations:
- attrarre l'attenzione di — to attract the attention of
- attrarre clienti / turisti / investitori / pubblico — to attract customers / tourists / investors / an audience
- essere attratto da — to be attracted to (the most common construction in personal contexts)
- attrarre come una calamita — to attract like a magnet
- lasciarsi attrarre da — to let oneself be drawn in by
- attrazione fatale — fatal attraction (a calque from English, fully naturalised)
The noun l'attrazione has a useful range: it can mean "attraction" abstractly (c'è una forte attrazione tra di loro) or concretely as a feature of a place (le attrazioni turistiche di Roma — "the tourist attractions of Rome").
Questa offerta dovrebbe attrarre l'attenzione dei nostri concorrenti.
This offer should attract the attention of our competitors.
Mi sento sempre attratto dalle persone che sanno ascoltare.
I'm always attracted to people who know how to listen.
Common mistakes
❌ Io attrago molti clienti con questa strategia.
Incorrect — the 1sg present needs the strong stem with double gg.
✅ Io attraggo molti clienti con questa strategia.
Correct — attraggo, with double gg.
❌ La novità attrasi molti finanziatori.
Incorrect — the passato remoto is attrasse, not 'attrasi'.
✅ La novità attrasse molti finanziatori.
Correct — attrasse in the third-person singular.
❌ Maria è attratto da lui.
Incorrect — Maria is feminine, so the participle must agree.
✅ Maria è attratta da lui.
Correct — attratta agrees with feminine singular Maria.
❌ Attrarrendo nuovi clienti, l'azienda crescerà.
Incorrect — the gerund uses the simple stem, not the contracted future stem.
✅ Attraendo nuovi clienti, l'azienda crescerà.
Correct — attraendo, from the simple attra- stem.
❌ Domani attrarremmo nuovi visitatori con la mostra.
Incorrect for a definite plan — attrarremmo (double m) is the conditional.
✅ Domani attrarremo nuovi visitatori con la mostra.
Correct — attrarremo (single m) is the simple future.
Key takeaways
Attrarre is the most common derivative of trarre, and follows the trarre paradigm with the prefix at- added throughout. Like its parent, it has three different stem-shapes — attra-, attragg-, attrass- — plus the contracted future stem attrarr- and the irregular participle attratto.
Three points to internalise:
The four-shape present mirrors trarre exactly. Attraggo, attrai, attrae, attraiamo, attraete, attraggono. Strong attragg- in io and loro; simple attra- elsewhere.
The participle attratto doubles as an adjective. Sono attratto/a da... ("I'm attracted to...") is the everyday way to express attraction. With essere, the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject, just like an adjective. The present participle attraente has fully lexicalised as the everyday adjective "attractive."
Avere is the auxiliary in compound tenses with a direct object: ho attratto, abbiamo attratto. The participle agrees with a preceding direct-object pronoun: l'ho attratta, li ho attratti. Watch the conditional/future spelling pair: attrarremmo (cond.) vs attrarremo (fut.).
Once attrarre is solid, the rest of the trarre family — estrarre, sottrarre, distrarre, contrarre, protrarre, ritrarre — follows automatically by the same prefix-and-paradigm pattern.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Trarre: Full ConjugationB2 — Complete paradigm of trarre (to draw, derive) — a highly irregular literary verb from Latin trahĕre, with hidden tra- stem, double-gg present, and contracted trarr- future.
- Condurre: Full ConjugationB1 — Complete paradigm of condurre (to lead/conduct) — the canonical -urre verb whose hidden conduc- stem comes from Latin condūcĕre, with double-rr future and irregular condotto participle.
- Passato Remoto: bere, dire, fare, porre, trarreB1 — The most irregular verbs in the Italian passato remoto reveal their original Latin stems — once you see the historical logic, the chaos turns into a small set of recognizable patterns.
- Passato Remoto: Double-Consonant Stems (bere, cadere, avere)B1 — The second great irregular family of the passato remoto — verbs whose io, lui, and loro forms double their stem-final consonant: ebbi, bevvi, caddi, seppi, volli, venni, stetti.
- Regular vs Irregular VerbsA1 — What it means for an Italian verb to be regular, where irregularities tend to cluster, and the main families of irregular forms you will meet.