Proporre (to propose, to suggest, to put forward) is one of the most frequent and useful verbs in everyday Italian — and one of the most rewarding to add to your active vocabulary. Where the parent verb porre carries a formal or literary flavour in modern Italian, proporre is entirely register-neutral: you'll hear it constantly in casual conversation, professional emails, news reports, and academic writing alike.
The verb is built from the prefix pro- ("forward, in front of") plus porre — etymologically "to put forward". Latin proponere has been borrowed into nearly every European language with the same metaphor: English propose, French proposer, Spanish proponer. What Italian preserves that those siblings have lost is the irregular conjugation of the underlying porre: every form below mirrors the porre paradigm with the prefix pro- glued on the front.
This means that mastering porre gives you proporre essentially for free — and along with it the parallel derivatives comporre, opporre, supporre, esporre, imporre, disporre, sottoporre, anteporre, presupporre, all conjugating identically.
Indicativo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | propongo |
| tu | proponi |
| lui / lei / Lei | propone |
| noi | proponiamo |
| voi | proponete |
| loro | propongono |
The same g-stem alternation as porre: propong- in 1sg and 3pl, plain propon- elsewhere. The 1sg propongo is the form to anchor — once you have it, the entire congiuntivo presente follows automatically.
Ti propongo una cosa: usciamo a cena venerdì sera?
Let me suggest something — shall we go out for dinner Friday night?
Cosa proponi di fare adesso?
What do you suggest we do now?
Vi proponiamo un nuovo servizio per i nostri clienti più affezionati.
We're offering a new service to our most loyal customers.
I sindacati propongono un aumento del cinque per cento.
The unions are proposing a five percent increase.
Imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | proponevo |
| tu | proponevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | proponeva |
| noi | proponevamo |
| voi | proponevate |
| loro | proponevano |
Plain stem propon- with the standard -evo, -evi, -eva endings. Fully predictable.
Ogni estate ci proponeva di partire in barca a vela.
Every summer he'd suggest we go off sailing.
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | proposi |
| tu | proponesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | propose |
| noi | proponemmo |
| voi | proponeste |
| loro | proposero |
The 1-3-3 strong stem is propos- — the n drops out exactly as in the parent verb (posi, pose, posero → proposi, propose, proposero). The form is proposi, never proponsi.
Nel 1915 Einstein propose la teoria della relatività generale.
In 1915 Einstein put forward the theory of general relativity.
Futuro semplice
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | proporrò |
| tu | proporrai |
| lui / lei / Lei | proporrà |
| noi | proporremo |
| voi | proporrete |
| loro | proporranno |
The future stem proporr- carries the same doubled-rr that comes from n→r assimilation in porre → porr-. Don't write proponerò — that form does not exist.
Alla riunione proporrò un'altra strategia.
At the meeting I'll suggest a different strategy.
Condizionale presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | proporrei |
| tu | proporresti |
| lui / lei / Lei | proporrebbe |
| noi | proporremmo |
| voi | proporreste |
| loro | proporrebbero |
The conditional is the most useful form of proporre in everyday speech — it softens what would otherwise be a direct suggestion. Ti proporrei... ("I'd suggest...") is markedly more polite than the bare indicative ti propongo. Watch the double m in proporremmo — the same trap as avremmo, saremmo.
Ti proporrei di rimandare l'incontro a lunedì, se ti va.
I'd suggest we postpone the meeting to Monday, if that works for you.
Proporremmo volentieri la nostra casa, ma è troppo piccola per tutti.
We'd happily offer our place, but it's too small for everyone.
Congiuntivo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | proponga |
| (che) tu | proponga |
| (che) lui / lei | proponga |
| (che) noi | proponiamo |
| (che) voi | proponiate |
| (che) loro | propongano |
Built directly on the g-stem of the indicative 1sg: propongo → proponga. All three singular forms collapse into proponga.
Voglio che mi proponga qualcosa di concreto entro venerdì.
I want him to put forward something concrete by Friday.
Congiuntivo imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | proponessi |
| (che) tu | proponessi |
| (che) lui / lei | proponesse |
| (che) noi | proponessimo |
| (che) voi | proponeste |
| (che) loro | proponessero |
Se mi proponessero un trasferimento all'estero, lo accetterei subito.
If they offered me a transfer abroad, I'd accept right away.
Imperativo
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | proponi |
| Lei (formal) | proponga |
| noi | proponiamo |
| voi | proponete |
| loro (formal pl.) | propongano |
Proponici qualcosa di diverso per le vacanze!
Suggest something different for the holidays!
Forme non finite
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | proporre |
| Infinito passato | aver proposto |
| Gerundio presente | proponendo |
| Gerundio passato | avendo proposto |
| Participio passato | proposto |
The participle proposto parallels porre → posto exactly. It also functions as a noun and adjective — un piatto proposto dallo chef (a dish proposed by the chef), la proposta (the proposal) is the related feminine noun.
Compound tenses
Auxiliary: avere. The participle proposto does not agree with the subject; it agrees only with a preceding direct-object pronoun (l'ho proposta, li ho proposti, le ho proposte).
| Tense | io | noi |
|---|---|---|
| Passato prossimo | ho proposto | abbiamo proposto |
| Trapassato prossimo | avevo proposto | avevamo proposto |
| Futuro anteriore | avrò proposto | avremo proposto |
| Condizionale passato | avrei proposto | avremmo proposto |
| Congiuntivo passato | abbia proposto | abbiamo proposto |
| Congiuntivo trapassato | avessi proposto | avessimo proposto |
Avevo proposto di partire alle sette, ma nessuno era d'accordo.
I'd suggested leaving at seven, but no one agreed.
Distinctive idioms and uses
A few collocations and constructions where proporre sits at home:
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| proporre di + infinitive | to suggest doing something |
| proporre che + subjunctive | to propose that... |
| proporsi di + infinitive | to set out / intend to do something |
| proporsi come | to put oneself forward as |
| l'uomo propone, Dio dispone | man proposes, God disposes (proverb) |
Mi sono proposta di leggere venti libri quest'anno.
I've set myself the goal of reading twenty books this year.
Si è proposta come candidata alle prossime elezioni.
She put herself forward as a candidate in the upcoming elections.
Avevamo programmato tutto, ma sai com'è — l'uomo propone e Dio dispone.
We'd planned everything, but you know how it is — man proposes and God disposes.
Il regista propose il ruolo a tre attrici prima di trovare quella giusta.
The director offered the role to three actresses before finding the right one.
Common mistakes
❌ Ti proponerò qualcosa la settimana prossima.
Incorrect — the future is contracted to proporr-, not propon-er-.
✅ Ti proporrò qualcosa la settimana prossima.
Correct — proporrò, with double-r.
❌ Ho proponuto una soluzione.
Incorrect — proponuto is a non-form.
✅ Ho proposto una soluzione.
Correct — the participle is proposto, parallel to posto.
❌ Penso che il direttore propone una nuova strategia.
Incorrect — penso che triggers the subjunctive.
✅ Penso che il direttore proponga una nuova strategia.
Correct — proponga is the congiuntivo presente, built on the g-stem.
❌ Mi propongo a fare di più.
Incorrect — proporsi takes di + infinitive, not a + infinitive.
✅ Mi propongo di fare di più.
Correct — proporsi di + inf.
Key takeaways
Proporre conjugates identically to porre, with the prefix pro- prepended to every form. Unlike its formal-sounding parent, proporre is entirely register-neutral and indispensable in everyday Italian.
Three points to internalise:
Propongo / proponga — the g-stem 1sg and the entire congiuntivo presente. Lock these down and the rest follows.
Proposi, propose, propongono, proporrò, proposto — the five forms where the n either drops or assimilates. Each one parallels the equivalent porre form exactly.
Proporre di + infinitive is the standard construction. Reflexive proporsi di + infinitive means "to intend, to set oneself the goal".
Related Topics
- Porre: Full ConjugationB1 — Complete paradigm of porre (to place, to pose) — a hidden-stem verb whose two-syllable infinitive masks the Latin pon- stem that surfaces throughout the conjugation, and the model paradigm for an entire family of common derivatives.
- Comporre: Full ConjugationB1 — Complete paradigm of comporre (to compose, to dial) — a porre-family derivative covering everything from musical composition to dialing a phone number.
- Supporre: Full ConjugationB1 — Complete paradigm of supporre (to suppose, to assume) — a porre-family derivative that systematically triggers the subjunctive in subordinate clauses, making it one of the most useful verbs for practising che + congiuntivo.
- Presente: Porre and Its Derivatives (proporre, comporre, opporre, supporre, esporre)B1 — Why this two-syllable infinitive hides a Latin -ponere stem — and how mastering one verb unlocks ten more (proporre, comporre, opporre, supporre, esporre, imporre, disporre, sottoporre, anteporre, posporre).
- The -g- Insertion PatternA2 — How a single irregularity — the inserted -g- in the io and loro forms — unites a dozen of Italian's most-used verbs and turns chaos into a learnable pattern.