Sorridere Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

sorridere — to smile — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ere verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the verb for smiling, and its present is regular while its passato remoto and past participle are irregular: the participle is sorriso and the remoto is sorrisi. Learn the participle with the infinitive, as one pair. On this page you will find sorridere 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 sorridere conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the sorridere passato prossimo tense page.

Example sentences with sorridere

In the present tense

  • “Io sorrido ogni giorno.” — “I smile”
  • “Tu sorridi ogni giorno.” — “You smile”
  • “Lui sorride ogni giorno.” — “He smiles”
  • “Noi sorridiamo ogni giorno.” — “We smile”
  • “Voi sorridete ogni giorno.” — “You smile”
  • “Loro sorridono ogni giorno.” — “They smile”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io ho sorriso questa settimana.” — “I have smiled”
  • “Tu hai sorriso questa settimana.” — “You have smiled”
  • “Lui ha sorriso questa settimana.” — “He has smiled”
  • “Noi abbiamo sorriso questa settimana.” — “We have smiled”
  • “Voi avete sorriso questa settimana.” — “You have smiled”
  • “Loro hanno sorriso questa settimana.” — “They have smiled”

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 sorridevo una volta.” — “I used to smile”
  • “Tu sorriderai domani.” — “You will smile”
  • “Lui sorriderebbe un giorno.” — “He would smile”
  • “È importante che noi sorridiamo.” — “It is important that we smile”
  • “Sorridi!” — “Smile!”

How sorridere is used

The first thing to know about sorridere is its core meaning: to smile. It is the verb for smiling, and its present is regular while its passato remoto and past participle are irregular: the participle is sorriso and the remoto is sorrisi. Learn the participle with the infinitive, as one pair. 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 sorridere keeps. The present io form is sorrido, 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 ho sorriso, 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 sorridere does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need sorrido, never sorridere. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho sorriso, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle sorriso is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Sorridere in context

Io sorrido ogni giorno. Tu sorridi ogni giorno. Lui sorride ogni giorno. Noi sorridiamo ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of sorridere is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — sorrido, sorridi, sorride, sorridiamo — while the meaning stays the same: to smile. Io ho sorriso questa settimana. Tu hai sorriso questa settimana. Lui ha sorriso questa settimana. Noi abbiamo sorriso questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of sorridere 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 smile — 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 sorridere.”

✓ Right: “Io sorrido ogni giorno.”

The infinitive sorridere never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form sorrido.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io sorridi.”

✓ Right: “Io sorrido ogni giorno.”

sorridi is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is sorrido — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io sorrido ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io ho sorriso questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho sorriso here, not the present sorrido.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io sono sorriso.”

✓ Right: “Io ho sorriso questa settimana.”

sorridere takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho sorriso — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) sorrido
    • B) sorridi
    • C) sorride
    • D) sorridiamo

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

    • A) hai sorriso
    • B) ha sorriso
    • C) ho sorriso
    • D) abbiamo sorriso

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

    • A) sorridevo
    • B) sorridevi
    • C) sorridevamo
    • D) sorrideva

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

    • A) sorrideremo
    • B) sorriderò
    • C) sorriderai
    • D) sorriderà

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

    • A) sorriderei
    • B) sorrideresti
    • C) sorriderebbe
    • D) sorrideremmo

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

    • A) sorridesti
    • B) sorrise
    • C) sorrisi
    • D) sorridemmo

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

    • A) sorrida
    • B) sorridiate
    • C) sorridano
    • D) sorridiamo

  8. What is the gerund of sorridere?

    • A) sorridendo
    • B) sorriso
    • C) sorridere
    • D) sorrido

  9. What is the past participle of sorridere?

    • A) sorridendo
    • B) sorriso
    • C) sorridere
    • D) sorrido

  10. What does sorridere mean in English?

  • A) to explain
  • B) to answer
  • C) to smile
  • D) to ask

Answer key

  1. B) sorridi — the correct form is sorridi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) ho sorriso — the correct form is ho sorriso. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) sorrideva — the correct form is sorrideva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) sorrideremo — the correct form is sorrideremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) sorrideresti — the correct form is sorrideresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) sorrisi — the correct form is sorrisi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) sorridiamo — the correct form is sorridiamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) sorridendo — the correct form is sorridendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) sorriso — the correct form is sorriso. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to smile — the correct form is to smile. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does sorridere mean in English?

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

Is sorridere regular or irregular?

sorridere is irregular. sorridere is irregular in passato-remoto, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of sorridere?

The gerund is sorridendo and the past participle is sorriso. The perfect tenses use avere + sorriso.

Where can I see the full conjugation of sorridere?

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

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