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fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

cavarsela

to get by, to manage

  • #120 most used
  • Irregular -are verb
  • Past participle: cavato
  • Gerund: cavandosela

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. io I get by
  2. tu you get by
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she gets by
  4. noi we get by
  5. voi you all get by
  6. loro they get by

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

  1. io I got by
  2. tu you got by
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she got by
  4. noi we got by
  5. voi you all got by
  6. loro they got by

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. io I used to get by
  2. tu you used to get by
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she used to get by
  4. noi we used to get by
  5. voi you all used to get by
  6. loro they used to get by

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

  1. io I will get by
  2. tu you will get by
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she will get by
  4. noi we will get by
  5. voi you all will get by
  6. loro they will get by

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

  1. io I would get by
  2. tu you would get by
  3. lui, lei, Lei he/she would get by
  4. noi we would get by
  5. voi you all would get by
  6. loro they would get by

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

  1. io (that) I get by
  2. tu (that) you get by
  3. lui, lei, Lei (that) he/she get by
  4. noi (that) we get by
  5. voi (that) you all get by
  6. loro (that) they get by

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders: tu, Lei, noi, voi

  1. tu get by!
  2. Lei get by! (formal)
  3. noi get by! (let’s)
  4. voi get by! (all of you)

How to use cavarsela

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Me la cavo abbastanza bene con lo spagnolo.

    I get by quite well in Spanish.

  2. Past

    Se l'è cavata con un po' di febbre.

    He got away with just a bit of a fever.

  3. Imperfect

    In cucina me la cavavo già da ragazzo.

    I could already manage in the kitchen as a boy.

  4. Future

    Vedrai che te la caverai benissimo all'esame.

    You'll see, you'll do just fine in the exam.

  5. Conditional

    Da solo non me la caverei con tre bambini.

    On my own I wouldn't manage with three kids.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Spero che se la cavino senza di noi.

    I hope they manage without us.

  7. Imperative

    Cavatela da solo, stavolta, sei grande!

    Manage on your own this time, you're a big boy!

Good to know

  • Me la cavo is "I get by, I manage": me la cavo con l'inglese.
  • In the past the participle agrees with la and stays cavata: se l'è cavata.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -are verb.