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?
L'agenzia ci propone tre opzioni di viaggio.
The agency is offering us three travel options.
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".
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Open the Italian course →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.