Meaning
to dig
- to excavate
- to bore
- to hollow out
In a sentence
Domani scaviamo una buca in giardino.
Tomorrow we'll dig a hole in the garden.
Hai scavato troppo vicino al muro?
Did you dig too close to the wall?
Non scavare quel pezzo di legno.
Don't hollow out that piece of wood.
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| scavare | infinitive |
| scaviamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| scavo | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| scavate | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| scavi | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| scavano | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| scava | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| scavavamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| scavavo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| scavavate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| scavavi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| scavavano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| scavava | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| scavammo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| scavai | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| scavaste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| scavasti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| scavarono | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| scavò | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| scaveremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| scaverò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| scaverete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| scaverai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| scaveranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| scaverà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| scaviamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| scavi | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| scaviate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| scavi | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| scavino | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| scavi | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| scavassimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| scavassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| scavaste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| scavassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| scavassero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| scavasse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| scaveremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| scaverei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| scavereste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| scaveresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| scaverebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| scaverebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| scaviamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| scavate | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| scava | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| scavando | gerund |
| scavato | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Use scavare for physical digging. For drilling with a machine, perforare or trivellare is often more precise.
- With avere in compound tenses: ho scavato una buca. It can also be transitive in figurative uses.
- Common with objects like buca, fossa, tunnel, pozzo. Learners often overuse it where cercare or approfondire is meant figuratively.