Svegliarsi Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian

svegliarsi — to wake up — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a reflexive, regular -are verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the reflexive verb for waking up, and it is completely regular. Every form carries a reflexive pronoun, and the passato prossimo is formed with essere, as it is for all reflexive verbs. Its opposite is addormentarsi, to fall asleep. On this page you will find svegliarsi 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 svegliarsi conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the svegliarsi present tense page.

Example sentences with svegliarsi

In the present tense

  • “Io mi sveglio ogni giorno.” — “I wake up”
  • “Tu ti svegli ogni giorno.” — “You wake up”
  • “Lui si sveglia ogni giorno.” — “He wakes up”
  • “Noi ci svegliamo ogni giorno.” — “We wake up”
  • “Voi vi svegliate ogni giorno.” — “You wake up”
  • “Loro si svegliano ogni giorno.” — “They wake up”

In the passato prossimo

  • “Io mi sono svegliato questa settimana.” — “I have woken up”
  • “Tu ti sei svegliato questa settimana.” — “You have woken up”
  • “Lui si è svegliato questa settimana.” — “He has woken up”
  • “Noi ci siamo svegliato questa settimana.” — “We have woken up”
  • “Voi vi siete svegliato questa settimana.” — “You have woken up”
  • “Loro si sono svegliato questa settimana.” — “They have woken up”

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 mi svegliavo una volta.” — “I used to wake up”
  • “Tu ti sveglierai domani.” — “You will wake up”
  • “Lui si sveglierebbe un giorno.” — “He would wake up”
  • “È importante che noi ci svegliamo.” — “It is important that we wake up”
  • “Svegliati!” — “Wake up!”

How svegliarsi is used

The first thing to know about svegliarsi is its core meaning: to wake up. It is the reflexive verb for waking up, and it is completely regular. Every form carries a reflexive pronoun, and the passato prossimo is formed with essere, as it is for all reflexive verbs. Its opposite is addormentarsi, to fall asleep. 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 svegliarsi keeps. The present io form is mi 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 mi sono 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 svegliarsi does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need mi sveglio, never svegliarsi. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is mi sono svegliato, built with essere, 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.

Svegliarsi in context

Io mi sveglio ogni giorno. Tu ti svegli ogni giorno. Lui si sveglia ogni giorno. Noi ci svegliamo ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of svegliarsi is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — mi sveglio, ti svegli, si sveglia, ci svegliamo — while the meaning stays the same: to wake up. Io mi sono svegliato questa settimana. Tu ti sei svegliato questa settimana. Lui si è svegliato questa settimana. Noi ci siamo svegliato questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of svegliarsi 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 up — 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 svegliarsi.”

✓ Right: “Io mi sveglio ogni giorno.”

The infinitive svegliarsi never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form mi sveglio.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Io ti svegli.”

✓ Right: “Io mi sveglio ogni giorno.”

ti svegli is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is mi sveglio — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Io mi sveglio ieri.”

✓ Right: “Io mi sono svegliato questa settimana.”

Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo mi sono svegliato here, not the present mi sveglio.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Io ho svegliato.”

✓ Right: “Io mi sono svegliato questa settimana.”

svegliarsi takes essere in the passato prossimo. The io form is mi sono svegliato — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) mi sveglio
    • B) ti svegli
    • C) si sveglia
    • D) ci svegliamo

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

    • A) ti sei svegliato
    • B) si è svegliato
    • C) mi sono svegliato
    • D) ci siamo svegliato

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

    • A) mi svegliavo
    • B) ti svegliavi
    • C) ci svegliavamo
    • D) si svegliava

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

    • A) ci sveglieremo
    • B) mi sveglierò
    • C) ti sveglierai
    • D) si sveglierà

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

    • A) mi sveglierei
    • B) ti sveglieresti
    • C) si sveglierebbe
    • D) ci sveglieremmo

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

    • A) ti svegliasti
    • B) si svegliò
    • C) mi svegliai
    • D) ci svegliammo

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

    • A) mi svegli
    • B) ti svegli
    • C) si svegli
    • D) ci svegliamo

  8. What is the gerund of svegliarsi?

    • A) svegliandosi
    • B) svegliato
    • C) svegliarsi
    • D) mi sveglio

  9. What is the past participle of svegliarsi?

    • A) svegliandosi
    • B) svegliato
    • C) svegliarsi
    • D) mi sveglio

  10. What does svegliarsi mean in English?

  • A) to explain
  • B) to answer
  • C) to wake up
  • D) to ask

Answer key

  1. B) ti svegli — the correct form is ti svegli. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) mi sono svegliato — the correct form is mi sono svegliato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) si svegliava — the correct form is si svegliava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) ci sveglieremo — the correct form is ci sveglieremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) ti sveglieresti — the correct form is ti sveglieresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) mi svegliai — the correct form is mi svegliai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) ci svegliamo — the correct form is ci svegliamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) svegliandosi — the correct form is svegliandosi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) svegliato — the correct form is svegliato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to wake up — the correct form is to wake up. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does svegliarsi mean in English?

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

Is svegliarsi regular or irregular?

svegliarsi is regular. svegliarsi 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 svegliarsi?

The gerund is svegliandosi and the past participle is svegliato. The perfect tenses use essere + svegliato.

Where can I see the full conjugation of svegliarsi?

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

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