Introduction

Riuscire means “to manage”, and this page covers exactly one thing: riuscire in the passato prossimo. The passato prossimo is the tense Italian speakers reach for when they talk about one finished action in the past, especially in conversation. On this page you will find the full passato prossimo table for riuscire, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about riuscire in the passato prossimo. 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. For example: “Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “He has managed to finish the work.” Everything on this page uses the forms of riuscire exactly as they are conjugated in the passato prossimo, so you can trust every form you see here.

Riuscire in the Passato prossimo — full table

Person Form
io sono riuscito
tu sei riuscito
lui/lei è riuscito
noi siamo riuscito
voi siete riuscito
loro sono riuscito
Gerund: riuscendo · Past participle: riuscito
The gerund is riuscendo, which you use with stare to say what is happening at the same time as the main action: “Riuscendo a finire il lavoro, imparo molto.” — “While managing to finish the work, I learn a lot.” The past participle is riuscito, which you use with essere in the perfect tenses: sono riuscito is the passato prossimo, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passato prossimo is only one part of how riuscire is used.
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.

How the passato prossimo of riuscire is formed

The passato prossimo of riuscire is formed with the auxiliary essere in the present plus the past participle riuscito: io sono riuscito, tu sei riuscito, lui è riuscito, noi siamo riuscito, voi siete riuscito, loro sono riuscito. The participle is given here in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Two things about the passato prossimo of riuscire are worth noticing. First, the auxiliary is the whole decision: once you know that riuscire takes essere, the rest is the present of essere plus one participle, and the same participle serves all four perfect tenses. Second, the passato prossimo is the tense of finished events with a clear result, so it pairs naturally with time words such as ieri, questa settimana and l'anno scorso — those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

Because the participle riuscito never changes in the tables, the passato prossimo of riuscire is cheap to learn once the auxiliary is fixed. Learn the six auxiliary forms, add the participle, and the whole tense is yours.

When to use the passato prossimo of riuscire

The passato prossimo is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use riuscire in the passato prossimo most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. One finished action

The passato prossimo describes a single action that is finished, especially in spoken Italian. When the action has a clear end, the passato prossimo is the natural choice. Example: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “I have managed to finish the work.”

2. Recent events

Use the passato prossimo for things that happened recently — today, this week, this morning — where the result is still visible in the present. Example: “Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “He has managed to finish the work.”

3. A sequence of events

When you tell what happened first, second and third, each step takes the passato prossimo. The tense moves the story forward one finished action at a time. Example: “Noi siamo riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “We have managed to finish the work.”

4. An experience in your life

Use the passato prossimo for things you have done in your life, with or without a time expression. It is the tense of experience as much as of yesterday. Example: “Tu sei riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “You have managed to finish the work.”

5. News and results

When you report news or a result, the passato prossimo carries it: something happened, and now the situation is different. The result matters more than the process. Example: “Loro sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “They have managed to finish the work.”

Passato Prossimo vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passato prossimo is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the passato prossimo describes one finished action, while the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual action in the past, or the background of a scene. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passato prossimo sentences use words such as ieri or questa settimana, while the imperfect sentences use una volta or ogni giorno.

  • Passato Prossimo: “Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “He has managed to finish the work”
  • Imperfect: “Lui riusciva a finire il lavoro una volta.” — “He used to manage to finish the work”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.
  • Passato Prossimo: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “I have managed to finish the work”
  • Imperfect: “Io riuscivo a finire il lavoro una volta.” — “I used to manage to finish the work”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.
  • Passato Prossimo: “Tu sei riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “You have managed to finish the work”
  • Imperfect: “Tu riuscivi a finire il lavoro una volta.” — “You used to manage to finish the work”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.

Example sentences: riuscire in the passato prossimo

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions and the objects — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “I have managed to finish the work”
  2. “Tu sei riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “You have managed to finish the work”
  3. “Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “He has managed to finish the work”
  4. “Noi siamo riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “We have managed to finish the work”
  5. “Voi siete riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “You have managed to finish the work”
  6. “Loro sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “They have managed to finish the work”
  7. “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “I have managed to finish the work”
  8. “Lui è riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” — “He has managed to finish the work”

Common mistakes

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Io ho riuscito a finire il lavoro.” Right: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” Why: riuscire takes essere in the passato prossimo, not the other auxiliary. The io form is sono riuscito — check the auxiliary before you build the tense.
  • Wrong: “Io riesco a finire il lavoro ieri.” Right: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” Why: Ieri points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo sono riuscito for a finished action yesterday.
  • Wrong: “Io sono riuscendo a finire il lavoro.” Right: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” Why: The passato prossimo needs the past participle riuscito, not the gerund riuscendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary.
  • Wrong: “Io riuscire a finire il lavoro.” Right: “Io sono riuscito a finire il lavoro questa settimana.” Why: The infinitive riuscire never takes a subject and never forms a past tense on its own. After io you need the conjugated passato prossimo form sono riuscito.

Quiz: test yourself

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

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

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

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

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

  3. What is the lui/lei form of riuscire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

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

  4. What is the noi form of riuscire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

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

  5. What is the voi form of riuscire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

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

  6. What is the loro form of riuscire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

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

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

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

  8. What is the tu form of riuscire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

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

Answer key

  1. B) sono riuscito — the correct form is sono riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) sei riuscito — the correct form is sei riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) è riuscito — the correct form is è riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) siamo riuscito — the correct form is siamo riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) siete riuscito — the correct form is siete riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) sono riuscito — the correct form is sono riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) sono riuscito — the correct form is sono riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) sei riuscito — the correct form is sei riuscito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does riuscire mean in English?

riuscire means “to manage”. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ire verb.

How is the passato prossimo of riuscire formed?

With the auxiliary essere in the present plus the past participle riuscito: io sono riuscito, tu sei riuscito, lui è riuscito, noi siamo riuscito, voi siete riuscito, loro sono riuscito.

When do I use the passato prossimo instead of the imperfect?

Use the passato prossimo for one finished action in the past. Use the imperfect for an ongoing or habitual past action, or for background description. The time words are your best clue: ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.

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.

Related pages