Svegliare Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian
svegliare — to wake — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, regular -are verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to wake someone up, and it is completely regular. Do not confuse it with the reflexive svegliarsi, which means to wake up on your own, and which takes essere in the passato prossimo. On this page you will find svegliare 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 svegliare conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the svegliare present tense page.
Example sentences with svegliare
In the present tense
- “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.” — “I wake Maria”
- “Tu svegli Maria ogni giorno.” — “You wake Maria”
- “Lui sveglia Maria ogni giorno.” — “He wakes Maria”
- “Noi svegliamo Maria ogni giorno.” — “We wake Maria”
- “Voi svegliate Maria ogni giorno.” — “You wake Maria”
- “Loro svegliano Maria ogni giorno.” — “They wake Maria”
In the passato prossimo
- “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “I have woken Maria”
- “Tu hai svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “You have woken Maria”
- “Lui ha svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “He has woken Maria”
- “Noi abbiamo svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “We have woken Maria”
- “Voi avete svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “You have woken Maria”
- “Loro hanno svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “They have woken Maria”
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 svegliavo Maria una volta.” — “I used to wake Maria”
- “Tu sveglierai Maria domani.” — “You will wake Maria”
- “Lui sveglierebbe Maria un giorno.” — “He would wake Maria”
- “È importante che noi svegliamo Maria.” — “It is important that we wake Maria”
- “Sveglia Maria!” — “Wake Maria!”
How svegliare is used
The first thing to know about svegliare is its core meaning: to wake. It means to wake someone up, and it is completely regular. Do not confuse it with the reflexive svegliarsi, which means to wake up on your own, and which takes essere in the passato prossimo. 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 svegliare keeps. The present io form is sveglio, 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 svegliato, 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 svegliare does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need sveglio, never svegliare. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho svegliato, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle svegliato is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Svegliare in context
Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno. Tu svegli Maria ogni giorno. Lui sveglia Maria ogni giorno. Noi svegliamo Maria ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of svegliare is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — sveglio, svegli, sveglia, svegliamo — while the meaning stays the same: to wake. Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana. Tu hai svegliato Maria questa settimana. Lui ha svegliato Maria questa settimana. Noi abbiamo svegliato Maria questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of svegliare 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 wake — 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 svegliare Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.”
The infinitive svegliare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form sveglio.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Io svegli Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.”
svegli is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is sveglio — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io sveglio Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.”
Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho svegliato here, not the present sveglio.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Io sono svegliato Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.”
svegliare takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho svegliato — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on svegliare across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of svegliare in the Present indicative?
- A) sveglio
- B) svegli
- C) sveglia
- D) svegliamo
What is the io form of svegliare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai svegliato
- B) ha svegliato
- C) ho svegliato
- D) abbiamo svegliato
What is the lui/lei form of svegliare in the Imperfect?
- A) svegliavo
- B) svegliavi
- C) svegliavamo
- D) svegliava
What is the noi form of svegliare in the Future?
- A) sveglieremo
- B) sveglierò
- C) sveglierai
- D) sveglierà
What is the tu form of svegliare in the Conditional?
- A) sveglierei
- B) sveglieresti
- C) sveglierebbe
- D) sveglieremmo
What is the io form of svegliare in the Passato remoto?
- A) svegliasti
- B) svegliò
- C) svegliai
- D) svegliammo
What is the noi form of svegliare in the Present subjunctive?
- A) svegli
- B) svegliate
- C) sveglino
- D) svegliamo
What is the gerund of svegliare?
- A) svegliando
- B) svegliato
- C) svegliare
- D) sveglio
What is the past participle of svegliare?
- A) svegliando
- B) svegliato
- C) svegliare
- D) sveglio
What does svegliare mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to wake
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) svegli — the correct form is svegli. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ho svegliato — the correct form is ho svegliato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) svegliava — the correct form is svegliava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) sveglieremo — the correct form is sveglieremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) sveglieresti — the correct form is sveglieresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) svegliai — the correct form is svegliai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) svegliamo — the correct form is svegliamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) svegliando — the correct form is svegliando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) svegliato — the correct form is svegliato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to wake — the correct form is to wake. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does svegliare mean in English?
svegliare means “to wake”. You use it whenever you talk about to wake in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.
Is svegliare regular or irregular?
svegliare is regular. svegliare is regular: every form follows the standard -are endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.
What are the gerund and past participle of svegliare?
The gerund is svegliando and the past participle is svegliato. The perfect tenses use avere + svegliato.
Where can I see the full conjugation of svegliare?
On the svegliare conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The svegliare present 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 svegliare, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- svegliare conjugation — full tables
- svegliare in the present tense
- Italian present tense guide — the full guide to the present tense in Italian.
- Fare conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Andare conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Quiz — practise svegliare with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise svegliare with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise svegliare with the interactive tool.