Svegliare Conjugation in Italian
svegliare means “to wake” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 152 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. 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. This page gives you the complete conjugation of svegliare — 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 sveglio Maria ogni giorno.” — “I wake Maria.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: svegliare
- English: to wake
- Verb type: Regular -are verb
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: svegliando
- Present participle: svegliante
- Past participle: svegliato
- Auxiliary: avere (all perfect tenses are formed with avere + the past participle)
- Ending: -are verbs; pattern are in the verified tables
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. 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 svegliare in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about svegliare
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -are 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 svegliato. 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 svegliante and svegliato: 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 svegliare. 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 | sveglio |
| tu | svegli |
| lui/lei | sveglia |
| noi | svegliamo |
| voi | svegliate |
| loro | svegliano |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.” — “I wake Maria”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | svegliai |
| tu | svegliasti |
| lui/lei | svegliò |
| noi | svegliammo |
| voi | svegliaste |
| loro | svegliarono |
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 svegliai Maria ieri.” — “I woke Maria”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | svegliavo |
| tu | svegliavi |
| lui/lei | svegliava |
| noi | svegliavamo |
| voi | svegliavate |
| loro | svegliavano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io svegliavo Maria una volta.” — “I used to wake Maria”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | sveglierò |
| tu | sveglierai |
| lui/lei | sveglierà |
| noi | sveglieremo |
| voi | sveglierete |
| loro | sveglieranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io sveglierò Maria domani.” — “I will wake Maria”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | sveglierei |
| tu | sveglieresti |
| lui/lei | sveglierebbe |
| noi | sveglieremmo |
| voi | svegliereste |
| loro | sveglierebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io sveglierei Maria un giorno.” — “I would wake Maria”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho svegliato |
| tu | hai svegliato |
| lui/lei | ha svegliato |
| noi | abbiamo svegliato |
| voi | avete svegliato |
| loro | hanno svegliato |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “He has woken Maria”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo svegliato |
| tu | avevi svegliato |
| lui/lei | aveva svegliato |
| noi | avevamo svegliato |
| voi | avevate svegliato |
| loro | avevano svegliato |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo svegliato Maria prima della festa.” — “I had woken Maria”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò svegliato |
| tu | avrai svegliato |
| lui/lei | avrà svegliato |
| noi | avremo svegliato |
| voi | avrete svegliato |
| loro | avranno svegliato |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò svegliato Maria per domani.” — “I will have woken Maria”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei svegliato |
| tu | avresti svegliato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe svegliato |
| noi | avremmo svegliato |
| voi | avreste svegliato |
| loro | avrebbero svegliato |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei svegliato Maria ieri.” — “I would have woken Maria”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | svegli |
| tu | svegli |
| lui/lei | svegli |
| noi | svegliamo |
| voi | svegliate |
| loro | sveglino |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io svegli Maria.” — “It is important that I wake Maria”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | svegliassi |
| tu | svegliassi |
| lui/lei | svegliasse |
| noi | svegliassimo |
| voi | svegliaste |
| loro | svegliassero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io svegliassi Maria.” — “It was important that I wake Maria”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | sveglia |
| lui/lei | svegli |
| noi | svegliamo |
| voi | svegliate |
| loro | sveglino |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Sveglia Maria!” — “Wake Maria!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | svegliare |
| lui/lei | svegli |
| noi | svegliamo |
| voi | svegliate |
| loro | sveglino |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non svegliare Maria.” — “Do not wake Maria.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | svegliando |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Svegliando Maria, imparo molto.” — “While waking Maria, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | svegliante |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle svegliante 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 | svegliato |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “I have woken Maria.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with svegliare, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.” — “I wake Maria”
- “Tu svegliasti Maria ieri.” — “You woke Maria”
- “Lui svegliava Maria una volta.” — “He used to wake Maria”
- “Io sveglierò Maria domani.” — “I will wake Maria”
- “Tu sveglieresti Maria un giorno.” — “You would wake Maria”
- “Lui ha svegliato Maria questa settimana.” — “He has woken Maria”
- “Io avevo svegliato Maria prima della festa.” — “I had woken Maria”
- “Tu avrai svegliato Maria per domani.” — “You will have woken Maria”
- “È importante che io svegli Maria.” — “It is important that I wake Maria”
- “Sveglia Maria!” — “Wake Maria!”
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’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io svegli Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.”
svegli is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with sveglio.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io sveglio Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho svegliato for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono svegliato Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of svegliare is formed with avere plus the past participle svegliato: the io form is ho svegliato. 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 sveglio Maria.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io svegli Maria.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use svegli here, not the indicative sveglio.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho svegliando Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho svegliato Maria questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle svegliato, not the gerund svegliando. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on svegliare. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of svegliare in the Present indicative?
- A) svegli
- B) sveglio
- C) sveglia
- D) svegliamo
What is the lui/lei form of svegliare in the Passato remoto?
- A) svegliai
- B) svegliasti
- C) svegliò
- D) svegliammo
What is the noi form of svegliare in the Imperfect?
- A) svegliavo
- B) svegliavi
- C) svegliava
- D) svegliavamo
What is the tu form of svegliare in the Future?
- A) sveglierai
- B) sveglierò
- C) sveglierà
- D) sveglieremo
What is the io form of svegliare in the Conditional?
- A) sveglieresti
- B) sveglierei
- C) sveglierebbe
- D) sveglieremmo
What is the lui/lei form of svegliare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho svegliato
- B) hai svegliato
- C) ha svegliato
- D) abbiamo svegliato
What is the lui/lei form of svegliare in the Present subjunctive?
- A) svegliamo
- B) svegliate
- C) sveglino
- D) svegli
What is the io form of svegliare in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) svegliassi
- B) svegliasse
- C) svegliassimo
- D) svegliaste
What is the gerund of svegliare?
- A) svegliato
- B) svegliando
- 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) sveglio — the correct form is sveglio. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) svegliò — the correct form is svegliò. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) svegliavamo — the correct form is svegliavamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) sveglierai — the correct form is sveglierai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) sveglierei — the correct form is sveglierei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha svegliato — the correct form is ha svegliato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) svegli — the correct form is svegli. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) svegliassi — the correct form is svegliassi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) svegliando — the correct form is svegliando. 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”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is svegliare regular or irregular?
svegliare is regular: it follows the ordinary -are pattern in every tense. The gerund is svegliando and the past participle is svegliato.
What are the gerund and past participle of svegliare?
The gerund is svegliando — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is svegliato — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho svegliato.
Which auxiliary does svegliare take in the passato prossimo?
svegliare takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho svegliato. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle svegliato.
How do I say “I wake” in Italian?
Say “Io sveglio Maria ogni giorno.” — “I wake Maria” The io form of the present is sveglio, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of svegliare — every tense of svegliare in one place.
- Svegliare in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Svegliare examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Italian present tense guide — the full guide to the present tense in Italian.
- Fare conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Andare 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 svegliare with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise svegliare with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise svegliare with the interactive tool.