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fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

crescere

to grow, to grow up

  • #268 most used
  • Irregular -ere verb
  • Past participle: cresciuto
  • Gerund: crescendo

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use crescere

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

  1. Present

    I bambini crescono così in fretta!

    Children grow so fast!

  2. Past

    Sono cresciuta in un paesino vicino a Bologna.

    I grew up in a little village near Bologna.

  3. Imperfect

    Nel nostro giardino cresceva un fico enorme.

    A huge fig tree grew in our garden.

  4. Future

    Quest'erba crescerà bene anche all'ombra.

    This grass will grow well even in the shade.

  5. Conditional

    Il basilico crescerebbe meglio al sole.

    The basil would grow better in the sun.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Voglio che mia figlia cresca con due lingue.

    I want my daughter to grow up with two languages.

  7. Imperative

    Cresci un po', hai trent'anni ormai!

    Grow up a bit, you're thirty now!

Good to know

  • Sono cresciuto a Roma is "I grew up in Rome"; crescere un figlio, to raise a child, takes avere.

Verbs like this one

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