Chiedere Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian
chiedere — to ask for — 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 means to ask for something and to ask someone a question, and it is the verb for requests in shops, offices and everyday conversation. Its passato remoto and past participle are irregular, while the present is regular. On this page you will find chiedere 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 chiedere conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the chiedere passato prossimo tense page.
Example sentences with chiedere
In the present tense
- “Io chiedo un favore a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I ask Maria for a favour”
- “Tu chiedi un favore a Maria ogni giorno.” — “You ask Maria for a favour”
- “Lui chiede un favore a Maria ogni giorno.” — “He asks Maria for a favour”
- “Noi chiediamo un favore a Maria ogni giorno.” — “We ask Maria for a favour”
- “Voi chiedete un favore a Maria ogni giorno.” — “You ask Maria for a favour”
- “Loro chiedono un favore a Maria ogni giorno.” — “They ask Maria for a favour”
In the passato prossimo
- “Io ho chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.” — “I have asked Maria for a favour”
- “Tu hai chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.” — “You have asked Maria for a favour”
- “Lui ha chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.” — “He has asked Maria for a favour”
- “Noi abbiamo chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.” — “We have asked Maria for a favour”
- “Voi avete chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.” — “You have asked Maria for a favour”
- “Loro hanno chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.” — “They have asked Maria for a favour”
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 chiedevo un favore a Maria una volta.” — “I used to ask Maria for a favour”
- “Tu chiederai un favore a Maria domani.” — “You will ask Maria for a favour”
- “Lui chiederebbe un favore a Maria un giorno.” — “He would ask Maria for a favour”
- “È importante che noi chiediamo un favore a Maria.” — “It is important that we ask Maria for a favour”
- “Chiedi un favore a Maria!” — “Ask Maria for a favour!”
How chiedere is used
The first thing to know about chiedere is its core meaning: to ask for. It means to ask for something and to ask someone a question, and it is the verb for requests in shops, offices and everyday conversation. Its passato remoto and past participle are irregular, while the present is regular. 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 chiedere keeps. The present io form is chiedo, 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 ho chiesto, 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 chiedere does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need chiedo, never chiedere. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho chiesto, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle chiesto is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Chiedere in context
Io chiedo un favore a Maria ogni giorno. Tu chiedi un favore a Maria ogni giorno. Lui chiede un favore a Maria ogni giorno. Noi chiediamo un favore a Maria ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of chiedere is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — chiedo, chiedi, chiede, chiediamo — while the meaning stays the same: to ask for. Io ho chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana. Tu hai chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana. Lui ha chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana. Noi abbiamo chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of chiedere 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 ask for — 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 chiedere un favore a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io chiedo un favore a Maria ogni giorno.”
The infinitive chiedere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form chiedo.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Io chiedi un favore a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io chiedo un favore a Maria ogni giorno.”
chiedi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is chiedo — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io chiedo un favore a Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.”
Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho chiesto here, not the present chiedo.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Io sono chiesto un favore a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho chiesto un favore a Maria questa settimana.”
chiedere takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho chiesto — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on chiedere across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of chiedere in the Present indicative?
- A) chiedo
- B) chiedi
- C) chiede
- D) chiediamo
What is the io form of chiedere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai chiesto
- B) ha chiesto
- C) ho chiesto
- D) abbiamo chiesto
What is the lui/lei form of chiedere in the Imperfect?
- A) chiedevo
- B) chiedevi
- C) chiedevamo
- D) chiedeva
What is the noi form of chiedere in the Future?
- A) chiederemo
- B) chiederò
- C) chiederai
- D) chiederà
What is the tu form of chiedere in the Conditional?
- A) chiederei
- B) chiederesti
- C) chiederebbe
- D) chiederemmo
What is the io form of chiedere in the Passato remoto?
- A) chiedesti
- B) chiese
- C) chiesi
- D) chiedemmo
What is the noi form of chiedere in the Present subjunctive?
- A) chieda
- B) chiediate
- C) chiedano
- D) chiediamo
What is the gerund of chiedere?
- A) chiedendo
- B) chiesto
- C) chiedere
- D) chiedo
What is the past participle of chiedere?
- A) chiedendo
- B) chiesto
- C) chiedere
- D) chiedo
What does chiedere mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to ask for
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) chiedi — the correct form is chiedi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ho chiesto — the correct form is ho chiesto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) chiedeva — the correct form is chiedeva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) chiederemo — the correct form is chiederemo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) chiederesti — the correct form is chiederesti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) chiesi — the correct form is chiesi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) chiediamo — the correct form is chiediamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) chiedendo — the correct form is chiedendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) chiesto — the correct form is chiesto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to ask for — the correct form is to ask for. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does chiedere mean in English?
chiedere means “to ask for”. You use it whenever you talk about to ask for in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.
Is chiedere regular or irregular?
chiedere is irregular. chiedere is irregular in passato-remoto, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect — learn those forms as a set.
What are the gerund and past participle of chiedere?
The gerund is chiedendo and the past participle is chiesto. The perfect tenses use avere + chiesto.
Where can I see the full conjugation of chiedere?
On the chiedere conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The chiedere 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 chiedere, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- chiedere conjugation — full tables
- chiedere in the passato prossimo tense
- Italian passato prossimo tense guide — the full guide to the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
- Italian irregular verbs — every common irregular Italian verb, grouped by pattern.
- Essere conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Avere conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Quiz — practise chiedere with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise chiedere with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise chiedere with the interactive tool.