Meaning
to happen
In a sentence
Non so cosa sia accaduto ieri sera.
I don't know what happened last night.
Che cosa accade quando premi questo bottone?
What happens when you press this button?
A volte accadono cose strane in ufficio.
Sometimes strange things happen at the office.
Word forms (17)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| accadere | infinitive |
| accadono | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| accade | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| accadevano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| accadeva | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| accaddero | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| accadde | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| accadranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| accadrà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| accadano | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| accada | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| accadessero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| accadesse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| accadrebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| accadrebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| accadendo | gerund |
| accaduto | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Use 'accadere' for unexpected or neutral events; 'succedere' is more casual and common in speech.
- Always takes 'essere' as auxiliary in compound tenses (e.g., 'è accaduto').
- Avoid overusing it—Italians often omit the subject in impersonal constructions (e.g., 'Accade spesso').
- present: accade, accadono