Mettere Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

mettere — to put — 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 put and to place, and it appears in expressions for putting on clothes and putting things away. Its passato remoto and past participle are irregular, while the present is regular. On this page you will find mettere 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 mettere conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the mettere passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with mettere

In the present tense

  • “Io metto il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.” — “I put the book on the table”
  • “Tu metti il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.” — “You put the book on the table”
  • “Lui mette il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.” — “He puts the book on the table”
  • “Noi mettiamo il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.” — “We put the book on the table”
  • “Voi mettete il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.” — “You put the book on the table”
  • “Loro mettono il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.” — “They put the book on the table”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io ho messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “I have put the book on the table”
  • “Tu hai messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “You have put the book on the table”
  • “Lui ha messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “He has put the book on the table”
  • “Noi abbiamo messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “We have put the book on the table”
  • “Voi avete messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “You have put the book on the table”
  • “Loro hanno messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “They have put the book on the table”

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 mettevo il libro sul tavolo una volta.” — “I used to put the book on the table”
  • “Tu metterai il libro sul tavolo domani.” — “You will put the book on the table”
  • “Lui metterebbe il libro sul tavolo un giorno.” — “He would put the book on the table”
  • “È importante che noi mettiamo il libro sul tavolo.” — “It is important that we put the book on the table”
  • “Metti il libro sul tavolo!” — “Put the book on the table!”

How mettere is used

The first thing to know about mettere is its core meaning: to put. It means to put and to place, and it appears in expressions for putting on clothes and putting things away. 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 mettere keeps. The present io form is metto, 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 messo, 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 mettere does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need metto, never mettere. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho messo, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle messo is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Mettere in context

Io metto il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno. Tu metti il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno. Lui mette il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno. Noi mettiamo il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of mettere is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — metto, metti, mette, mettiamo — while the meaning stays the same: to put. Io ho messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana. Tu hai messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana. Lui ha messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana. Noi abbiamo messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of mettere 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 put — 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 mettere il libro sul tavolo.”

✓ Right: “Io metto il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.”

The infinitive mettere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form metto.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io metti il libro sul tavolo.”

✓ Right: “Io metto il libro sul tavolo ogni giorno.”

metti is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is metto — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io metto il libro sul tavolo ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io ho messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho messo here, not the present metto.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io sono messo il libro sul tavolo.”

✓ Right: “Io ho messo il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) metto
    • B) metti
    • C) mette
    • D) mettiamo

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

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

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

    • A) mettevo
    • B) mettevi
    • C) mettevamo
    • D) metteva

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

    • A) metteremo
    • B) metterò
    • C) metterai
    • D) metterà

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

    • A) metterei
    • B) metteresti
    • C) metterebbe
    • D) metteremmo

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

    • A) mettesti
    • B) mise
    • C) misi
    • D) mettemmo

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

    • A) metta
    • B) mettiate
    • C) mettano
    • D) mettiamo

  8. What is the gerund of mettere?

    • A) mettendo
    • B) messo
    • C) mettere
    • D) metto

  9. What is the past participle of mettere?

    • A) mettendo
    • B) messo
    • C) mettere
    • D) metto

  10. What does mettere mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to put
  • D) to do, to make

Answer key

  1. B) metti — the correct form is metti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) ho messo — the correct form is ho messo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) metteva — the correct form is metteva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) metteremo — the correct form is metteremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) metteresti — the correct form is metteresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) misi — the correct form is misi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) mettiamo — the correct form is mettiamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) mettendo — the correct form is mettendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) messo — the correct form is messo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to put — the correct form is to put. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does mettere mean in English?

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

Is mettere regular or irregular?

mettere is irregular. mettere is irregular in passato-remoto, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of mettere?

The gerund is mettendo and the past participle is messo. The perfect tenses use avere + messo.

Where can I see the full conjugation of mettere?

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

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