Meaning
to prevent
- to prevent, forestall
- to anticipate, beat someone to something
- to forewarn
In a sentence
Ti chiamo prima per prevenire ogni problema.
I'll call you first to prevent any problem.
Mi hai prevenuto: stavo per dirlo io.
You beat me to it: I was just about to say it.
Una dieta sana aiuta a prevenire molte malattie.
A healthy diet helps prevent many illnesses.
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| prevenire | infinitive |
| preveniamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| prevengo | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| prevenite | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| previeni | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| prevengono | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| previene | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| prevenivamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| prevenivo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| prevenivate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| prevenivi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| prevenivano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| preveniva | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| prevenimmo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| prevenni | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| preveniste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| prevenisti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| prevennero | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| prevenne | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| preverremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| preverrò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| preverrete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| preverrai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| preverranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| preverrà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| preveniamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| prevenga | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| preveniate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| prevenga | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| prevengano | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| prevenga | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| prevenissimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| prevenissi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| preveniste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| prevenissi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| prevenissero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| prevenisse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| preverremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| preverrei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| preverreste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| preverresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| preverrebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| preverrebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| preveniamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| prevenite | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| previeni | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| prevenendo | gerund |
| prevenuto | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Usually transitive: prevenire qualcosa. For warning a person, use prevenire qualcuno di qualcosa; in speech, avvertire is often more natural.
- For stopping problems, prevenire is more formal than evitare and common in health, safety, and policy contexts.
- As a compound-tense verb, it normally takes avere: ho prevenuto il rischio; not essere.
- present: prevengo, previeni, previene, preveniamo, prevenite, prevengono
- past participle prevenuto