Meaning
to spy on
- to spy on, to watch secretly
- to peep, to peer at
In a sentence
Non spiare il mio telefono, per favore.
Don't spy on my phone, please.
Hai spiato dalla porta per vedere chi era?
Did you peek through the door to see who it was?
Spiavo la sua faccia per capire cosa pensava.
I was watching his face to guess what he was thinking.
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| spiare | infinitive |
| spiamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| spio | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| spiate | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| spii | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| spiano | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| spia | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| spiavamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| spiavo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| spiavate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| spiavi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| spiavano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| spiava | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| spiammo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| spiai | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| spiaste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| spiasti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| spiarono | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| spiò | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| spieremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| spierò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| spierete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| spierai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| spieranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| spierà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| spiamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| spii | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| spiate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| spii | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| spiino | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| spii | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| spiassimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| spiassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| spiaste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| spiassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| spiassero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| spiasse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| spieremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| spierei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| spiereste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| spieresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| spierebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| spierebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| spiamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| spiate | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| spia | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| spiando | gerund |
| spiato | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Use spiare for secretly watching or listening. For simply watching, prefer osservare or guardare; spiare usually implies stealth or intrusion.
- It can be transitive or take da: spiare qualcuno, spiare dalla finestra. Learners often overuse a before the place.
- With avere in compound tenses: ho spiato, non sono spiato. Regular -are verb.
- present: spio, spii, spia, spiamo, spiate, spiano