Riuscire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

riuscire — to manage — 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 manage to do something and to succeed, and it takes essere in the passato prossimo. Its present has the stem change riesco/riescono, while noi riusciamo and voi riuscite keep the plain stem, and it is almost always followed by a with an infinitive. On this page you will find riuscire 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 riuscire conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the riuscire passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with riuscire

In the present tense

  • “Io riesco a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.” — “I manage to finish the work”
  • “Tu riesci a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.” — “You manage to finish the work”
  • “Lui riesce a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.” — “He manages to finish the work”
  • “Noi riusciamo a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.” — “We manage to finish the work”
  • “Voi riuscite a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.” — “You manage to finish the work”
  • “Loro riescono a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.” — “They manage to finish the work”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “I have managed to finish the work”
  • “Tu sei riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “You have managed to finish the work”
  • “Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “He has managed to finish the work”
  • “Noi siamo riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “We have managed to finish the work”
  • “Voi siete riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “You have managed to finish the work”
  • “Loro sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “They have managed to finish the work”

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 riuscivo a finire il lavoro una volta.” — “I used to manage to finish the work”
  • “Tu riuscirai a finire il lavoro domani.” — “You will manage to finish the work”
  • “Lui riuscirebbe a finire il lavoro un giorno.” — “He would manage to finish the work”
  • “È importante che noi riusciamo a finire il lavoro.” — “It is important that we manage to finish the work”
  • “Riesci a finire il lavoro!” — “Manage to finish the work!”

How riuscire is used

The first thing to know about riuscire is its core meaning: to manage. It means to manage to do something and to succeed, and it takes essere in the passato prossimo. Its present has the stem change riesco/riescono, while noi riusciamo and voi riuscite keep the plain stem, and it is almost always followed by a with an infinitive. 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 riuscire keeps. The present io form is riesco, 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 riuscito, 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 riuscire does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need riesco, never riuscire. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is sono riuscito, built with essere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle riuscito is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Riuscire in context

Io riesco a finire il lavoro ogni giorno. Tu riesci a finire il lavoro ogni giorno. Lui riesce a finire il lavoro ogni giorno. Noi riusciamo a finire il lavoro ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of riuscire is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — riesco, riesci, riesce, riusciamo — while the meaning stays the same: to manage. Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana. Tu sei riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana. Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana. Noi siamo riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of riuscire 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 manage — 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 riuscire a finire il lavoro.”

✓ Right: “Io riesco a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.”

The infinitive riuscire never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form riesco.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io riesci a finire il lavoro.”

✓ Right: “Io riesco a finire il lavoro ogni giorno.”

riesci is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is riesco — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io riesco a finire il lavoro ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo sono riuscito here, not the present riesco.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io ho riuscito a finire il lavoro.”

✓ Right: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) riesco
    • B) riesci
    • C) riesce
    • D) riusciamo

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

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

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

    • A) riuscivo
    • B) riuscivi
    • C) riuscivamo
    • D) riusciva

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

    • A) riusciremo
    • B) riuscirò
    • C) riuscirai
    • D) riuscirà

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

    • A) riuscirei
    • B) riusciresti
    • C) riuscirebbe
    • D) riusciremmo

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

    • A) riuscisti
    • B) riuscì
    • C) riuscii
    • D) riuscimmo

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

    • A) riesca
    • B) riusciate
    • C) riescano
    • D) riusciamo

  8. What is the gerund of riuscire?

    • A) riuscendo
    • B) riuscito
    • C) riuscire
    • D) riesco

  9. What is the past participle of riuscire?

    • A) riuscendo
    • B) riuscito
    • C) riuscire
    • D) riesco

  10. What does riuscire mean in English?

  • A) to sit down
  • B) to get dressed
  • C) to manage
  • D) to call

Answer key

  1. B) riesci — the correct form is riesci. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) sono riuscito — the correct form is sono riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) riusciva — the correct form is riusciva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) riusciremo — the correct form is riusciremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) riusciresti — the correct form is riusciresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) riuscii — the correct form is riuscii. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) riusciamo — the correct form is riusciamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) riuscendo — the correct form is riuscendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) riuscito — the correct form is riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to manage — the correct form is to manage. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does riuscire mean in English?

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

Is riuscire regular or irregular?

riuscire is irregular. riuscire is irregular in present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of riuscire?

The gerund is riuscendo and the past participle is riuscito. The perfect tenses use essere + riuscito.

Where can I see the full conjugation of riuscire?

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

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