Seguire Conjugation in Italian
seguire means “to follow” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 399 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. 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. This page gives you the complete conjugation of seguire — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Io seguo Maria ogni giorno.” — “I follow Maria.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: seguire
- English: to follow
- Verb type: Regular -ire verb
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: seguendo
- Present participle: seguente
- Past participle: seguito
- Auxiliary: avere (all perfect tenses are formed with avere + the past participle)
- Ending: -ire verbs; pattern ire in the verified tables
Pronunciation
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. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read seguire in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about seguire
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -ire pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use avere: the passato prossimo is formed with avere in the present plus the past participle seguito. The tables on this page give the participle 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.
- The participles are seguente and seguito: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for seguire. Learn the present tense first, then the passato prossimo and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative (presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | seguo |
| tu | segui |
| lui/lei | segue |
| noi | seguiamo |
| voi | seguite |
| loro | seguono |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io seguo Maria ogni giorno.” — “I follow Maria”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | seguii |
| tu | seguisti |
| lui/lei | seguì |
| noi | seguimmo |
| voi | seguiste |
| loro | seguirono |
The passato remoto is used for completed actions in the distant past, mostly in written and literary Italian and in the south of Italy. For example: “Io seguii Maria ieri.” — “I followed Maria”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | seguivo |
| tu | seguivi |
| lui/lei | seguiva |
| noi | seguivamo |
| voi | seguivate |
| loro | seguivano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io seguivo Maria una volta.” — “I used to follow Maria”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | seguirò |
| tu | seguirai |
| lui/lei | seguirà |
| noi | seguiremo |
| voi | seguirete |
| loro | seguiranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io seguirò Maria domani.” — “I will follow Maria”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | seguirei |
| tu | seguiresti |
| lui/lei | seguirebbe |
| noi | seguiremmo |
| voi | seguireste |
| loro | seguirebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io seguirei Maria un giorno.” — “I would follow Maria”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho seguito |
| tu | hai seguito |
| lui/lei | ha seguito |
| noi | abbiamo seguito |
| voi | avete seguito |
| loro | hanno seguito |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo seguito |
| tu | avevi seguito |
| lui/lei | aveva seguito |
| noi | avevamo seguito |
| voi | avevate seguito |
| loro | avevano seguito |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo seguito Maria prima della festa.” — “I had followed Maria”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò seguito |
| tu | avrai seguito |
| lui/lei | avrà seguito |
| noi | avremo seguito |
| voi | avrete seguito |
| loro | avranno seguito |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò seguito Maria per domani.” — “I will have followed Maria”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei seguito |
| tu | avresti seguito |
| lui/lei | avrebbe seguito |
| noi | avremmo seguito |
| voi | avreste seguito |
| loro | avrebbero seguito |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei seguito Maria ieri.” — “I would have followed Maria”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | segua |
| tu | segua |
| lui/lei | segua |
| noi | seguiamo |
| voi | seguiate |
| loro | seguano |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io segua Maria.” — “It is important that I follow Maria”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | seguissi |
| tu | seguissi |
| lui/lei | seguisse |
| noi | seguissimo |
| voi | seguiste |
| loro | seguissero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io seguissi Maria.” — “It was important that I follow Maria”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | segui |
| lui/lei | segua |
| noi | seguiamo |
| voi | seguite |
| loro | seguano |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Segui Maria!” — “Follow Maria!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | seguire |
| lui/lei | segua |
| noi | seguiamo |
| voi | seguiate |
| loro | seguano |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non seguire Maria.” — “Do not follow Maria.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | seguendo |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Seguendo Maria, imparo molto.” — “While following Maria, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | seguente |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle seguente is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Past participle | seguito |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “I have followed Maria.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with seguire, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io seguo Maria ogni giorno.” — “I follow Maria”
- “Tu seguisti Maria ieri.” — “You followed Maria”
- “Lui seguiva Maria una volta.” — “He used to follow Maria”
- “Io seguirò Maria domani.” — “I will follow Maria”
- “Tu seguiresti Maria un giorno.” — “You would follow Maria”
- “Lui ha seguito Maria questa settimana.” — “He has followed Maria”
- “Io avevo seguito Maria prima della festa.” — “I had followed Maria”
- “Tu avrai seguito Maria per domani.” — “You will have followed Maria”
- “È importante che io segua Maria.” — “It is important that I follow Maria”
- “Segui Maria!” — “Follow Maria!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io seguire Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io seguo Maria ogni giorno.”
The infinitive seguire never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form seguo.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io segui Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io seguo Maria ogni giorno.”
segui is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with seguo.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io seguo Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho seguito for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono seguito Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of seguire is formed with avere plus the past participle seguito: the io form is ho seguito. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “È importante che io seguo Maria.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io segua Maria.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use segua here, not the indicative seguo.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho seguendo Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho seguito Maria questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle seguito, not the gerund seguendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on seguire. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of seguire in the Present indicative?
- A) segui
- B) seguo
- C) segue
- D) seguiamo
What is the lui/lei form of seguire in the Passato remoto?
- A) seguii
- B) seguisti
- C) seguì
- D) seguimmo
What is the noi form of seguire in the Imperfect?
- A) seguivo
- B) seguivi
- C) seguiva
- D) seguivamo
What is the tu form of seguire in the Future?
- A) seguirai
- B) seguirò
- C) seguirà
- D) seguiremo
What is the io form of seguire in the Conditional?
- A) seguiresti
- B) seguirei
- C) seguirebbe
- D) seguiremmo
What is the lui/lei form of seguire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho seguito
- B) hai seguito
- C) ha seguito
- D) abbiamo seguito
What is the lui/lei form of seguire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) seguiamo
- B) seguiate
- C) seguano
- D) segua
What is the io form of seguire in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) seguissi
- B) seguisse
- C) seguissimo
- D) seguiste
What is the gerund of seguire?
- A) seguito
- B) seguendo
- C) seguire
- D) seguo
What does seguire mean in English?
- A) to sit down
- B) to get dressed
- C) to follow
- D) to call
Answer key
- B) seguo — the correct form is seguo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) seguì — the correct form is seguì. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) seguivamo — the correct form is seguivamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) seguirai — the correct form is seguirai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) seguirei — the correct form is seguirei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha seguito — the correct form is ha seguito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) segua — the correct form is segua. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) seguissi — the correct form is seguissi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) seguendo — the correct form is seguendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to follow — the correct form is to follow. 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 core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is seguire regular or irregular?
seguire is regular: it follows the ordinary -ire pattern in every tense. The gerund is seguendo and the past participle is seguito.
What are the gerund and past participle of seguire?
The gerund is seguendo — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is seguito — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho seguito.
Which auxiliary does seguire take in the passato prossimo?
seguire takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho seguito. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle seguito.
How do I say “I follow” in Italian?
Say “Io seguo Maria ogni giorno.” — “I follow Maria” The io form of the present is seguo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of seguire — every tense of seguire in one place.
- Seguire in the passato prossimo tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Seguire examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Italian passato prossimo tense guide — the full guide to the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
- Vestirsi conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Capire conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Conjugator — practise seguire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise seguire with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise seguire with the interactive tool.