Skip to content
fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

rispondere

to answer, to reply

  • #84 most used
  • Irregular -ere verb
  • Past participle: risposto
  • Gerund: rispondendo

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

Imperative

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

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

How to use rispondere

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

  1. Present

    Non risponde mai al telefono.

    He never answers the phone.

  2. Past

    Ti ho risposto ieri, non hai visto il messaggio?

    I answered you yesterday, didn't you see the message?

  3. Imperfect

    Rispondeva sempre con un sorriso.

    She always answered with a smile.

  4. Future

    Risponderò a tutte le email domani.

    I'll reply to all the emails tomorrow.

  5. Conditional

    Risponderei volentieri, ma non so la risposta.

    I'd gladly answer, but I don't know the answer.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Spero che risponda entro stasera.

    I hope she replies by this evening.

  7. Imperative

    Rispondi tu, è tua madre.

    You answer, it's your mother.

Good to know

  • Rispondere a: rispondo alla mail, rispondo al telefono. Rispondere di sì, di no.

Where you hear rispondere

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Italian · Advanced Level 1

  • Rispondo domani. I'll answer tomorrow.
  • Non ha risposto al telefono. He didn't answer the phone.
  • Risponderò a Donato domenica. I'll answer Donato on Sunday.

Italian · Advanced Level 3

  • Rispondo domani. I'll answer tomorrow.
  • Non ha risposto al telefono. He didn't answer the phone.
  • Risponderò a Donato domenica. I'll answer Donato on Sunday.
9
An Answer from Argentina

Advanced Level 1 · Le rispondo subito.

Needs a subscription 17
Answering in Public

Advanced Level 3 · Giulia, rispondiamo. Ma con calma. · Risponderemo con i fatti, non con le parole.

Needs a subscription 16
Telling a Joke

Fluency Level 1 · Lui risponde: no. E l'uomo: allora torno domani!

Needs a subscription 28
A Reader's Question

Fluency Level 2 · E Sua nonna, cosa risponderebbe?

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

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