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ITALIAN VERB

descrivere

to describe

  • #195 most used
  • Irregular -ere verb
  • Past participle: descritto
  • Gerund: descrivendo

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use descrivere

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

  1. Present

    Mi descrivi la casa che hai visto?

    Can you describe the house you saw to me?

  2. Past

    Ho descritto il problema al meccanico.

    I described the problem to the mechanic.

  3. Imperfect

    La guida descriveva ogni quadro con passione.

    The guide described every painting with passion.

  4. Future

    Ti descriverò tutto quando torno a casa.

    I'll describe everything to you when I get home.

  5. Conditional

    Come descriveresti il tuo lavoro in due parole?

    How would you describe your job in two words?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Voglio che tu mi descriva il ladro.

    I want you to describe the thief to me.

  7. Imperative

    Descrivi la tua città in tre frasi.

    Describe your city in three sentences.

Good to know

  • Descrivere takes the thing directly: descrivere una persona, descrivere un posto.

Verbs like this one

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