Cadere Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

cadere — to fall — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ere verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the verb for falling, and its present is regular while its passato remoto and future are irregular: the remoto is caddi and the future stem is cadr-, so the future is cadrò. It takes essere in the passato prossimo, as verbs of movement do. On this page you will find cadere in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the cadere conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the cadere passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with cadere

In the present tense

  • “Io cado ogni giorno.” — “I fall”
  • “Tu cadi ogni giorno.” — “You fall”
  • “Lui cade ogni giorno.” — “He falls”
  • “Noi cadiamo ogni giorno.” — “We fall”
  • “Voi cadete ogni giorno.” — “You fall”
  • “Loro cadono ogni giorno.” — “They fall”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io sono caduto questa settimana.” — “I have fallen”
  • “Tu sei caduto questa settimana.” — “You have fallen”
  • “Lui è caduto questa settimana.” — “He has fallen”
  • “Noi siamo caduto questa settimana.” — “We have fallen”
  • “Voi siete caduto questa settimana.” — “You have fallen”
  • “Loro sono caduto questa settimana.” — “They have fallen”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Io cadevo una volta.” — “I used to fall”
  • “Tu cadrai domani.” — “You will fall”
  • “Lui cadrebbe un giorno.” — “He would fall”
  • “È importante che noi cadiamo.” — “It is important that we fall”
  • “Cadi!” — “Fall!”

How cadere is used

The first thing to know about cadere is its core meaning: to fall. It is the verb for falling, and its present is regular while its passato remoto and future are irregular: the remoto is caddi and the future stem is cadr-, so the future is cadrò. It takes essere in the passato prossimo, as verbs of movement do. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the passato prossimo, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company cadere keeps. The present io form is cado, and it pairs naturally with the time words ogni giorno and sempre for habits, and with adesso for what is happening right now. The passato prossimo io form is sono caduto, and it pairs with ieri and questa settimana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what cadere does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need cado, never cadere. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is sono caduto, built with essere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle caduto is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Cadere in context

Io cado ogni giorno. Tu cadi ogni giorno. Lui cade ogni giorno. Noi cadiamo ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of cadere is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — cado, cadi, cade, cadiamo — while the meaning stays the same: to fall. Io sono caduto questa settimana. Tu sei caduto questa settimana. Lui è caduto questa settimana. Noi siamo caduto questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of cadere appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to fall — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Io cadere.”

✓ Right: “Io cado ogni giorno.”

The infinitive cadere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form cado.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io cadi.”

✓ Right: “Io cado ogni giorno.”

cadi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is cado — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io cado ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io sono caduto questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo sono caduto here, not the present cado.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io ho caduto.”

✓ Right: “Io sono caduto questa settimana.”

cadere takes essere in the passato prossimo. The io form is sono caduto — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on cadere across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of cadere in the Present indicative?

    • A) cado
    • B) cadi
    • C) cade
    • D) cadiamo

  2. What is the io form of cadere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) sei caduto
    • B) è caduto
    • C) sono caduto
    • D) siamo caduto

  3. What is the lui/lei form of cadere in the Imperfect?

    • A) cadevo
    • B) cadevi
    • C) cadevamo
    • D) cadeva

  4. What is the noi form of cadere in the Future?

    • A) cadremo
    • B) cadrò
    • C) cadrai
    • D) cadrà

  5. What is the tu form of cadere in the Conditional?

    • A) cadrei
    • B) cadresti
    • C) cadrebbe
    • D) cadremmo

  6. What is the io form of cadere in the Passato remoto?

    • A) cadesti
    • B) cadde
    • C) caddi
    • D) cademmo

  7. What is the noi form of cadere in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) cada
    • B) cadiate
    • C) cadano
    • D) cadiamo

  8. What is the gerund of cadere?

    • A) cadendo
    • B) caduto
    • C) cadere
    • D) cado

  9. What is the past participle of cadere?

    • A) cadendo
    • B) caduto
    • C) cadere
    • D) cado

  10. What does cadere mean in English?

  • A) to explain
  • B) to answer
  • C) to fall
  • D) to ask

Answer key

  1. B) cadi — the correct form is cadi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) sono caduto — the correct form is sono caduto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) cadeva — the correct form is cadeva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) cadremo — the correct form is cadremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) cadresti — the correct form is cadresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) caddi — the correct form is caddi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) cadiamo — the correct form is cadiamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) cadendo — the correct form is cadendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) caduto — the correct form is caduto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to fall — the correct form is to fall. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does cadere mean in English?

cadere means “to fall”. You use it whenever you talk about to fall in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.

Is cadere regular or irregular?

cadere is irregular. cadere is irregular in passato-remoto, future, conditional, future-perfect, conditional-perfect — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of cadere?

The gerund is cadendo and the past participle is caduto. The perfect tenses use essere + caduto.

Where can I see the full conjugation of cadere?

On the cadere conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The cadere passato prossimo tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for cadere, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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