Telefonare Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian
telefonare — to phone — 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 is the verb for phoning someone, and it is completely regular in every tense. It takes the person as its object with the preposition a, as in phoning Maria, and it is the verb behind every call you make. On this page you will find telefonare 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 telefonare conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the telefonare present tense page.
Example sentences with telefonare
In the present tense
- “Io telefono a Maria ogni giorno.” — “I phone Maria”
- “Tu telefoni a Maria ogni giorno.” — “You phone Maria”
- “Lui telefona a Maria ogni giorno.” — “He phones Maria”
- “Noi telefoniamo a Maria ogni giorno.” — “We phone Maria”
- “Voi telefonate a Maria ogni giorno.” — “You phone Maria”
- “Loro telefonano a Maria ogni giorno.” — “They phone Maria”
In the passato prossimo
- “Io ho telefonato a Maria questa settimana.” — “I have phoned Maria”
- “Tu hai telefonato a Maria questa settimana.” — “You have phoned Maria”
- “Lui ha telefonato a Maria questa settimana.” — “He has phoned Maria”
- “Noi abbiamo telefonato a Maria questa settimana.” — “We have phoned Maria”
- “Voi avete telefonato a Maria questa settimana.” — “You have phoned Maria”
- “Loro hanno telefonato a Maria questa settimana.” — “They have phoned 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 telefonavo a Maria una volta.” — “I used to phone Maria”
- “Tu telefonerai a Maria domani.” — “You will phone Maria”
- “Lui telefonerebbe a Maria un giorno.” — “He would phone Maria”
- “È importante che noi telefoniamo a Maria.” — “It is important that we phone Maria”
- “Telefona a Maria!” — “Phone Maria!”
How telefonare is used
The first thing to know about telefonare is its core meaning: to phone. It is the verb for phoning someone, and it is completely regular in every tense. It takes the person as its object with the preposition a, as in phoning Maria, and it is the verb behind every call you make. 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 telefonare keeps. The present io form is telefono, 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 telefonato, 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 telefonare does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need telefono, never telefonare. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho telefonato, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle telefonato is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Telefonare in context
Io telefono a Maria ogni giorno. Tu telefoni a Maria ogni giorno. Lui telefona a Maria ogni giorno. Noi telefoniamo a Maria ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of telefonare is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — telefono, telefoni, telefona, telefoniamo — while the meaning stays the same: to phone. Io ho telefonato a Maria questa settimana. Tu hai telefonato a Maria questa settimana. Lui ha telefonato a Maria questa settimana. Noi abbiamo telefonato a Maria questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of telefonare 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 phone — 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 telefonare a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io telefono a Maria ogni giorno.”
The infinitive telefonare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form telefono.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Io telefoni a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io telefono a Maria ogni giorno.”
telefoni is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is telefono — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io telefono a Maria ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho telefonato a Maria questa settimana.”
Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho telefonato here, not the present telefono.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Io sono telefonato a Maria.”
✓ Right: “Io ho telefonato a Maria questa settimana.”
telefonare takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho telefonato — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on telefonare across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of telefonare in the Present indicative?
- A) telefono
- B) telefoni
- C) telefona
- D) telefoniamo
What is the io form of telefonare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai telefonato
- B) ha telefonato
- C) ho telefonato
- D) abbiamo telefonato
What is the lui/lei form of telefonare in the Imperfect?
- A) telefonavo
- B) telefonavi
- C) telefonavamo
- D) telefonava
What is the noi form of telefonare in the Future?
- A) telefoneremo
- B) telefonerò
- C) telefonerai
- D) telefonerà
What is the tu form of telefonare in the Conditional?
- A) telefonerei
- B) telefoneresti
- C) telefonerebbe
- D) telefoneremmo
What is the io form of telefonare in the Passato remoto?
- A) telefonasti
- B) telefonò
- C) telefonai
- D) telefonammo
What is the noi form of telefonare in the Present subjunctive?
- A) telefoni
- B) telefoniate
- C) telefonino
- D) telefoniamo
What is the gerund of telefonare?
- A) telefonando
- B) telefonato
- C) telefonare
- D) telefono
What is the past participle of telefonare?
- A) telefonando
- B) telefonato
- C) telefonare
- D) telefono
What does telefonare mean in English?
- A) to explain
- B) to answer
- C) to phone
- D) to ask
Answer key
- B) telefoni — the correct form is telefoni. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ho telefonato — the correct form is ho telefonato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) telefonava — the correct form is telefonava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) telefoneremo — the correct form is telefoneremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) telefoneresti — the correct form is telefoneresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) telefonai — the correct form is telefonai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) telefoniamo — the correct form is telefoniamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) telefonando — the correct form is telefonando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) telefonato — the correct form is telefonato. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to phone — the correct form is to phone. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does telefonare mean in English?
telefonare means “to phone”. You use it whenever you talk about to phone in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.
Is telefonare regular or irregular?
telefonare is regular. telefonare 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 telefonare?
The gerund is telefonando and the past participle is telefonato. The perfect tenses use avere + telefonato.
Where can I see the full conjugation of telefonare?
On the telefonare conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The telefonare 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 telefonare, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- telefonare conjugation — full tables
- telefonare in the present tense
- Italian present tense guide — the full guide to the present tense in Italian.
- Spiegare conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Domandare 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 telefonare with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise telefonare with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise telefonare with the interactive tool.