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ITALIAN VERB

succedere

to happen

  • #61 most used
  • Irregular -ere verb
  • Past participle: successo
  • Gerund: succedendo

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passato prossimo · finished actions: “ho parlato”

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

Imperfect

Imperfetto · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

Futuro semplice · plans and guesses

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

Conditional

Condizionale · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

Congiuntivo presente · wishes, doubts, “che …”

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

How to use succedere

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

  1. Present

    Che succede? Perché gridate tutti?

    What's going on? Why are you all shouting?

  2. Past

    Cosa ti è successo alla mano?

    What happened to your hand?

  3. Imperfect

    In quel bar succedeva sempre qualcosa.

    Something was always happening in that bar.

  4. Future

    Non succederà niente, stai tranquillo.

    Nothing will happen, don't worry.

  5. Conditional

    Cosa succederebbe se perdessimo il treno?

    What would happen if we missed the train?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Spero che non succeda niente di grave.

    I hope nothing serious happens.

Good to know

  • Cos'è successo? is what happened?; succede, it happens.
  • Succedere a is to succeed someone, far rarer than to happen.

Where you hear succedere

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

Italian · Intermediate Level 1

  • In cucina succede di tutto. In a kitchen anything happens.
  • Cos'è successo? È caduto tutto. What happened? Everything fell.
  • Non succederà più. It won't happen again.

Italian · Intermediate Level 3

  • In cucina succede di tutto. In a kitchen anything happens.
  • Cos'è successo? È caduto tutto. What happened? Everything fell.
  • Non succederà più. It won't happen again.
4
The First Service

Intermediate Level 1 · Laura! Cos'è successo?

Needs a subscription 28
The Last Chapter

Intermediate Level 3 · E poi, Nonna? Cosa successe dopo?

Needs a subscription 1
The News at Gino's

Advanced Level 2 · No. Cos'è successo?

Free 2
The Soldiers in the Village

Fluency Level 2 · Che paura. E poi cosa successe?

Free 2
The Family Objects

Fluency Level 3 · E se le succede qualcosa in aereo? · Non le succederà niente, zio.

Free

Verbs like this one

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