Guidare Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

guidare — to drive — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, regular -are verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the everyday verb for driving a car, and it is completely regular in every tense. Do not confuse it with condurre, the -rre verb for leading or driving in a formal sense: guidare is the verb you use for the car, the bus and the road. On this page you will find guidare 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 guidare conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the guidare present tense page.

Example sentences with guidare

In the present tense

  • “Io guido la macchina ogni giorno.” — “I drive the car”
  • “Tu guidi la macchina ogni giorno.” — “You drive the car”
  • “Lui guida la macchina ogni giorno.” — “He drives the car”
  • “Noi guidiamo la macchina ogni giorno.” — “We drive the car”
  • “Voi guidate la macchina ogni giorno.” — “You drive the car”
  • “Loro guidano la macchina ogni giorno.” — “They drive the car”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io ho guidato la macchina questa settimana.” — “I have driven the car”
  • “Tu hai guidato la macchina questa settimana.” — “You have driven the car”
  • “Lui ha guidato la macchina questa settimana.” — “He has driven the car”
  • “Noi abbiamo guidato la macchina questa settimana.” — “We have driven the car”
  • “Voi avete guidato la macchina questa settimana.” — “You have driven the car”
  • “Loro hanno guidato la macchina questa settimana.” — “They have driven the car”

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 guidavo la macchina una volta.” — “I used to drive the car”
  • “Tu guiderai la macchina domani.” — “You will drive the car”
  • “Lui guiderebbe la macchina un giorno.” — “He would drive the car”
  • “È importante che noi guidiamo la macchina.” — “It is important that we drive the car”
  • “Guida la macchina!” — “Drive the car!”

How guidare is used

The first thing to know about guidare is its core meaning: to drive. It is the everyday verb for driving a car, and it is completely regular in every tense. Do not confuse it with condurre, the -rre verb for leading or driving in a formal sense: guidare is the verb you use for the car, the bus and the road. 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 guidare keeps. The present io form is guido, 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 guidato, 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 guidare does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need guido, never guidare. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho guidato, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle guidato is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Guidare in context

Io guido la macchina ogni giorno. Tu guidi la macchina ogni giorno. Lui guida la macchina ogni giorno. Noi guidiamo la macchina ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of guidare is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — guido, guidi, guida, guidiamo — while the meaning stays the same: to drive. Io ho guidato la macchina questa settimana. Tu hai guidato la macchina questa settimana. Lui ha guidato la macchina questa settimana. Noi abbiamo guidato la macchina questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of guidare 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 drive — 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 guidare la macchina.”

✓ Right: “Io guido la macchina ogni giorno.”

The infinitive guidare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form guido.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io guidi la macchina.”

✓ Right: “Io guido la macchina ogni giorno.”

guidi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is guido — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io guido la macchina ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io ho guidato la macchina questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho guidato here, not the present guido.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io sono guidato la macchina.”

✓ Right: “Io ho guidato la macchina questa settimana.”

guidare takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho guidato — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) guido
    • B) guidi
    • C) guida
    • D) guidiamo

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

    • A) hai guidato
    • B) ha guidato
    • C) ho guidato
    • D) abbiamo guidato

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

    • A) guidavo
    • B) guidavi
    • C) guidavamo
    • D) guidava

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

    • A) guideremo
    • B) guiderò
    • C) guiderai
    • D) guiderà

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

    • A) guiderei
    • B) guideresti
    • C) guiderebbe
    • D) guideremmo

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

    • A) guidasti
    • B) guidò
    • C) guidai
    • D) guidammo

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

    • A) guidi
    • B) guidiate
    • C) guidino
    • D) guidiamo

  8. What is the gerund of guidare?

    • A) guidando
    • B) guidato
    • C) guidare
    • D) guido

  9. What is the past participle of guidare?

    • A) guidando
    • B) guidato
    • C) guidare
    • D) guido

  10. What does guidare mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) guidi — the correct form is guidi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) ho guidato — the correct form is ho guidato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) guidava — the correct form is guidava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) guideremo — the correct form is guideremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) guideresti — the correct form is guideresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) guidai — the correct form is guidai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) guidiamo — the correct form is guidiamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) guidando — the correct form is guidando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) guidato — the correct form is guidato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to drive — the correct form is to drive. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does guidare mean in English?

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

Is guidare regular or irregular?

guidare is regular. guidare is regular: every form follows the standard -are endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of guidare?

The gerund is guidando and the past participle is guidato. The perfect tenses use avere + guidato.

Where can I see the full conjugation of guidare?

On the guidare conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The guidare present 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 guidare, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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