Meaning
to frighten, to scare
- to frighten, scare, spook
In a sentence
Quel rumore forte mi ha spaventato ieri sera.
That loud noise scared me last night.
Ti spaventa parlare davanti a tutti?
Does speaking in front of everyone scare you?
Non voglio spaventare il cane con le urla.
I don't want to scare the dog with shouting.
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| spaventare | infinitive |
| spaventiamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| spavento | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| spaventate | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventi | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventano | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventa | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventavamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| spaventavo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| spaventavate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventavi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventavano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventava | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventammo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| spaventai | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| spaventaste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventasti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventarono | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventò | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventeremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| spaventerò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| spaventerete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventerai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventeranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventerà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventiamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| spaventi | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| spaventiate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventi | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventino | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventi | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventassimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| spaventassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| spaventaste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventassero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventasse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventeremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| spaventerei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| spaventereste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventeresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventerebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| spaventerebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| spaventiamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| spaventate | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| spaventa | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| spaventando | gerund |
| spaventato | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Often transitive: qualcosa spaventa qualcuno. For the person's reaction, use spaventarsi: Mi sono spaventato.
- Near-synonym impaurire is slightly more formal/literary; fare paura is very common in everyday speech.
- In compound tenses, spaventare takes avere; reflexive spaventarsi takes essere and agrees: si è spaventata.