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fluentbyear

ITALIAN VERB

significare

to mean

  • #178 most used
  • Regular -are verb
  • Past participle: significato
  • Gerund: significando

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

How to use significare

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

  1. Present

    Cosa significa questa parola in italiano?

    What does this word mean in Italian?

  2. Past

    Il tuo aiuto ha significato molto per noi.

    Your help meant a lot to us.

  3. Imperfect

    Da bambina non sapevo cosa significava quel cartello.

    As a child I didn't know what that sign meant.

  4. Future

    Questo lavoro significherà meno tempo per la famiglia.

    This job will mean less time for the family.

  5. Conditional

    Vendere la casa significherebbe lasciare la città.

    Selling the house would mean leaving the city.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Non credo che significhi niente di grave.

    I don't think it means anything serious.

Good to know

  • Cosa significa? asks what a word means; vuol dire is the more spoken way to say the same.

Verbs like this one

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