Offrire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian
offrire — to offer — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ire verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to offer something to someone, and it is irregular in the passato remoto and the past participle: the participle is offerto, while the present is regular. On this page you will find offrire 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 offrire conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the offrire passato prossimo tense page.
Example sentences with offrire
In the present tense
- “Io offro un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I offer Maria a coffee”
- “Tu offri un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.” — “You offer Maria a coffee”
- “Lui offre un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.” — “He offers Maria a coffee”
- “Noi offriamo un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.” — “We offer Maria a coffee”
- “Voi offrite un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.” — “You offer Maria a coffee”
- “Loro offrono un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.” — “They offer Maria a coffee”
In the passato prossimo
- “Io ho offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.” — “I have offered Maria a coffee”
- “Tu hai offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.” — “You have offered Maria a coffee”
- “Lui ha offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.” — “He has offered Maria a coffee”
- “Noi abbiamo offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.” — “We have offered Maria a coffee”
- “Voi avete offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.” — “You have offered Maria a coffee”
- “Loro hanno offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.” — “They have offered Maria a coffee”
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 offrivo un caffè a Maria una volta.” — “I used to offer Maria a coffee”
- “Tu offrirai un caffè a Maria domani.” — “You will offer Maria a coffee”
- “Lui offrirebbe un caffè a Maria un giorno.” — “He would offer Maria a coffee”
- “È importante che noi offriamo un caffè a Maria.” — “It is important that we offer Maria a coffee”
- “Offri un caffè a Maria!” — “Offer Maria a coffee!”
How offrire is used
The first thing to know about offrire is its core meaning: to offer. It means to offer something to someone, and it is irregular in the passato remoto and the past participle: the participle is offerto, 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 offrire keeps. The present io form is offro, 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 offerto, 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 offrire does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need offro, never offrire. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho offerto, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle offerto is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Offrire in context
Io offro un caffè a Maria ogni giorno. Tu offri un caffè a Maria ogni giorno. Lui offre un caffè a Maria ogni giorno. Noi offriamo un caffè a Maria ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of offrire is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — offro, offri, offre, offriamo — while the meaning stays the same: to offer. Io ho offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana. Tu hai offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana. Lui ha offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana. Noi abbiamo offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of offrire 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 offer — 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 offrire un caffè a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io offro un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.”
The infinitive offrire never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form offro.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Io offri un caffè a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io offro un caffè a Maria ogni giorno.”
offri is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is offro — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io offro un caffè a Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.”
Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho offerto here, not the present offro.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Io sono offerto un caffè a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho offerto un caffè a Maria questa settimana.”
offrire takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho offerto — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on offrire across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of offrire in the Present indicative?
- A) offro
- B) offri
- C) offre
- D) offriamo
What is the io form of offrire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai offerto
- B) ha offerto
- C) ho offerto
- D) abbiamo offerto
What is the lui/lei form of offrire in the Imperfect?
- A) offrivo
- B) offrivi
- C) offrivamo
- D) offriva
What is the noi form of offrire in the Future?
- A) offriremo
- B) offrirò
- C) offrirai
- D) offrirà
What is the tu form of offrire in the Conditional?
- A) offrirei
- B) offriresti
- C) offrirebbe
- D) offriremmo
What is the io form of offrire in the Passato remoto?
- A) offristi
- B) offerse
- C) offersi
- D) offrimmo
What is the noi form of offrire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) offra
- B) offriate
- C) offrano
- D) offriamo
What is the gerund of offrire?
- A) offrendo
- B) offerto
- C) offrire
- D) offro
What is the past participle of offrire?
- A) offrendo
- B) offerto
- C) offrire
- D) offro
What does offrire mean in English?
- A) to sit down
- B) to get dressed
- C) to offer
- D) to call
Answer key
- B) offri — the correct form is offri. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ho offerto — the correct form is ho offerto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) offriva — the correct form is offriva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) offriremo — the correct form is offriremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) offriresti — the correct form is offriresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) offersi — the correct form is offersi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) offriamo — the correct form is offriamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) offrendo — the correct form is offrendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) offerto — the correct form is offerto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to offer — the correct form is to offer. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does offrire mean in English?
offrire means “to offer”. You use it whenever you talk about to offer in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.
Is offrire regular or irregular?
offrire is irregular. offrire is irregular in passato-remoto, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect — learn those forms as a set.
What are the gerund and past participle of offrire?
The gerund is offrendo and the past participle is offerto. The perfect tenses use avere + offerto.
Where can I see the full conjugation of offrire?
On the offrire conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The offrire 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 offrire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- offrire conjugation — full tables
- offrire 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.
- Vestirsi conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Seguire 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 offrire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise offrire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise offrire with the interactive tool.