Introduction
Seguire means “to follow”, and this page covers exactly one thing: seguire 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 seguire, 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 seguire in the passato prossimo. It means to follow someone and to follow a course, a lesson or a story, and it is completely regular. The stem ends in u, so the forms keep the u throughout, and there is no spelling change to watch for. For example: “Lui ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria.” Everything on this page uses the forms of seguire exactly as they are conjugated in the passato prossimo, so you can trust every form you see here.
Seguire in the Passato prossimo — full table
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho seguito |
| tu | hai seguito |
| lui/lei | ha seguito |
| noi | abbiamo seguito |
| voi | avete seguito |
| loro | hanno seguito |
| Gerund: seguendo · Past participle: seguito | |
| The gerund is seguendo, which you use with stare to say what is happening at the same time as the main action: “Seguendo Maria, imparo molto.” — “While following Maria, I learn a lot.” The past participle is seguito, which you use with avere in the perfect tenses: ho seguito 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 seguire is used. | |
| Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for seguire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. |
How the passato prossimo of seguire is formed
The passato prossimo of seguire is formed with the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle seguito: io ho seguito, tu hai seguito, lui ha seguito, noi abbiamo seguito, voi avete seguito, loro hanno seguito. 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 seguire are worth noticing. First, the auxiliary is the whole decision: once you know that seguire takes avere, the rest is the present of avere 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 seguito never changes in the tables, the passato prossimo of seguire 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 seguire
The passato prossimo is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use seguire 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 ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “I have followed Maria.”
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 ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria.”
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 abbiamo seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “We have followed Maria.”
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 hai seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “You have followed Maria.”
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 hanno seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “They have followed Maria.”
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 ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria”
- Imperfect: “Lui seguiva Maria una volta.” — “He used to follow Maria”
- 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 ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “I have followed Maria”
- Imperfect: “Io seguivo Maria una volta.” — “I used to follow Maria”
- 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 hai seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “You have followed Maria”
- Imperfect: “Tu seguivi Maria una volta.” — “You used to follow Maria”
- 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: seguire 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.
- “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “I have followed Maria”
- “Tu hai seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “You have followed Maria”
- “Lui ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria”
- “Noi abbiamo seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “We have followed Maria”
- “Voi avete seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “You have followed Maria”
- “Loro hanno seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “They have followed Maria”
- “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “I have followed Maria”
- “Lui ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria”
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 sono seguito Maria.” Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” Why: seguire takes avere in the passato prossimo, not the other auxiliary. The io form is ho seguito — check the auxiliary before you build the tense.
- Wrong: “Io seguo Maria ieri.” Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” Why: Ieri points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho seguito for a finished action yesterday.
- Wrong: “Io ho seguendo Maria.” Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” Why: The passato prossimo needs the past participle seguito, not the gerund seguendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary.
- Wrong: “Io seguire Maria.” Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” Why: The infinitive seguire never takes a subject and never forms a past tense on its own. After io you need the conjugated passato prossimo form ho seguito.
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.
What is the io form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai seguito
- B) ho seguito
- C) ha seguito
- D) abbiamo seguito
What is the tu form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho seguito
- B) ha seguito
- C) hai seguito
- D) abbiamo seguito
What is the lui/lei form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho seguito
- B) hai seguito
- C) abbiamo seguito
- D) ha seguito
What is the noi form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) abbiamo seguito
- B) ho seguito
- C) hai seguito
- D) ha seguito
What is the voi form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho seguito
- B) avete seguito
- C) hai seguito
- D) ha seguito
What is the loro form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho seguito
- B) hai seguito
- C) hanno seguito
- D) ha seguito
What is the io form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai seguito
- B) ha seguito
- C) abbiamo seguito
- D) ho seguito
What is the tu form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai seguito
- B) ho seguito
- C) ha seguito
- D) abbiamo seguito
Answer key
- B) ho seguito — the correct form is ho seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hai seguito — the correct form is hai seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) ha seguito — the correct form is ha seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) abbiamo seguito — the correct form is abbiamo seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avete seguito — the correct form is avete seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) hanno seguito — the correct form is hanno seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) ho seguito — the correct form is ho seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hai seguito — the correct form is hai seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does seguire mean in English?
seguire means “to follow”. It is a non-reflexive, regular -ire verb.
How is the passato prossimo of seguire formed?
With the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle seguito: io ho seguito, tu hai seguito, lui ha seguito, noi abbiamo seguito, voi avete seguito, loro hanno seguito.
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 seguire?
The gerund is seguendo and the past participle is seguito. The perfect tenses use avere + seguito.
Related pages
- seguire conjugation — full tables
- seguire examples and quiz
- Italian passato prossimo tense guide — the full guide to the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
- Vestirsi conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Capire conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise seguire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise seguire with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise seguire with the interactive tool.