Salire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

salire — to go up — 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 is the verb for going up, climbing stairs or getting on a train, and its present is irregular: the io form is salgo, the tu form is sali and the loro form is salgono, while noi saliamo and voi salite keep the plain stem. It takes essere in the passato prossimo, and its opposite is scendere. On this page you will find salire 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 salire conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the salire passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with salire

In the present tense

  • “Io salgo ogni giorno.” — “I go up”
  • “Tu sali ogni giorno.” — “You go up”
  • “Lui sale ogni giorno.” — “He goes up”
  • “Noi saliamo ogni giorno.” — “We go up”
  • “Voi salite ogni giorno.” — “You go up”
  • “Loro salgono ogni giorno.” — “They go up”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io sono salito questa settimana.” — “I have gone up”
  • “Tu sei salito questa settimana.” — “You have gone up”
  • “Lui è salito questa settimana.” — “He has gone up”
  • “Noi siamo salito questa settimana.” — “We have gone up”
  • “Voi siete salito questa settimana.” — “You have gone up”
  • “Loro sono salito questa settimana.” — “They have gone up”

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 salivo una volta.” — “I used to go up”
  • “Tu salirai domani.” — “You will go up”
  • “Lui salirebbe un giorno.” — “He would go up”
  • “È importante che noi saliamo.” — “It is important that we go up”
  • “Sali!” — “Go up!”

How salire is used

The first thing to know about salire is its core meaning: to go up. It is the verb for going up, climbing stairs or getting on a train, and its present is irregular: the io form is salgo, the tu form is sali and the loro form is salgono, while noi saliamo and voi salite keep the plain stem. It takes essere in the passato prossimo, and its opposite is scendere. 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 salire keeps. The present io form is salgo, 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 salito, 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 salire does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need salgo, never salire. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is sono salito, built with essere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle salito is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Salire in context

Io salgo ogni giorno. Tu sali ogni giorno. Lui sale ogni giorno. Noi saliamo ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of salire is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — salgo, sali, sale, saliamo — while the meaning stays the same: to go up. Io sono salito questa settimana. Tu sei salito questa settimana. Lui è salito questa settimana. Noi siamo salito questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of salire 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 go up — 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 salire.”

✓ Right: “Io salgo ogni giorno.”

The infinitive salire never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form salgo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io sali.”

✓ Right: “Io salgo ogni giorno.”

sali is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is salgo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io salgo ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io sono salito questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo sono salito here, not the present salgo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io ho salito.”

✓ Right: “Io sono salito questa settimana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) salgo
    • B) sali
    • C) sale
    • D) saliamo

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

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

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

    • A) salivo
    • B) salivi
    • C) salivamo
    • D) saliva

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

    • A) saliremo
    • B) salirò
    • C) salirai
    • D) salirà

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

    • A) salirei
    • B) saliresti
    • C) salirebbe
    • D) saliremmo

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

    • A) salisti
    • B) salì
    • C) salii
    • D) salimmo

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

    • A) salga
    • B) saliate
    • C) salgano
    • D) saliamo

  8. What is the gerund of salire?

    • A) salendo
    • B) salito
    • C) salire
    • D) salgo

  9. What is the past participle of salire?

    • A) salendo
    • B) salito
    • C) salire
    • D) salgo

  10. What does salire mean in English?

  • A) to explain
  • B) to answer
  • C) to go up
  • D) to ask

Answer key

  1. B) sali — the correct form is sali. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) sono salito — the correct form is sono salito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) saliva — the correct form is saliva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) saliremo — the correct form is saliremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) saliresti — the correct form is saliresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) salii — the correct form is salii. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) saliamo — the correct form is saliamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) salendo — the correct form is salendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) salito — the correct form is salito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to go up — the correct form is to go up. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does salire mean in English?

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

Is salire regular or irregular?

salire is irregular. salire is irregular in present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of salire?

The gerund is salendo and the past participle is salito. The perfect tenses use essere + salito.

Where can I see the full conjugation of salire?

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

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