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ITALIAN VERB

distinguere

to distinguish, to tell apart

  • #463 most used
  • Irregular -ere verb
  • Past participle: distinto
  • Gerund: distinguendo

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use distinguere

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

  1. Present

    Non distinguo il blu dal verde.

    I can't tell blue from green.

  2. Past

    Da lontano non ho distinto chi fosse.

    From far away I couldn't make out who it was.

  3. Imperfect

    Al buio non distinguevamo niente.

    In the dark we couldn't make anything out.

  4. Future

    Col tempo distinguerai gli accenti.

    In time you'll be able to tell the accents apart.

  5. Conditional

    Senza occhiali non distinguerei nemmeno te.

    Without glasses I wouldn't even recognise you.

  6. Present subjunctive

    È importante che tu distingua il lavoro dal resto.

    It's important that you keep work separate from the rest.

  7. Imperative

    Distingui bene i funghi buoni da quelli velenosi.

    Tell the good mushrooms from the poisonous ones carefully.

Verbs like this one

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