Accendere: Full Conjugation | Italian Grammar

Accendere (to light, to turn on, to switch on) is the verb Italians use for putting anything into an "on" state — lights, lamps, televisions, computers, engines, ovens, radios, cigarettes, candles, fires, and metaphorically passions, debates, and rivalries. It is the natural antonym of spegnere (to turn off, extinguish), and the two verbs together carry an enormous amount of everyday vocabulary: every household action involving electricity or fire passes through one of them.

Morphologically, accendere belongs to the same -si/-so family as prendere and scendere. Most of the paradigm — present, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive, imperative — is fully regular on the accend- stem with standard -ere endings. The two diagnostic irregularities are the passato remoto (accesi / accese / accesero, 1-3-3 -si pattern) and the participle (acceso, -so pattern). Both build on the contracted acces- stem, exactly the same shape as prendere → presi/preso and scendere → scesi/sceso.

Etymologically, accendere comes from Latin accendere (to set fire to, kindle), with the ad- prefix that gives the modern double cc. The supine was accensum, and that -ns- root, simplified, surfaces as the -s- in modern accesi and acceso. The same Latin root also lives on in Italian accensione (ignition, also Christmas-tree lighting and engine ignition) and in English incendiary, incense, ascend.

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The auxiliary is straightforwardly avere in every compound tense — accendere is a transitive verb (you light something) and there is no auxiliary split to worry about. The reflexive accendersi ("to light up", "to come on by itself") takes essere, like all reflexives.

Indicativo presente

Person	Form	Pronunciation
io	accendo	/atˈtʃɛndo/
tu	accendi	/atˈtʃɛndi/
lui / lei / Lei	accende	/atˈtʃɛnde/
noi	accendiamo	/attʃenˈdjamo/
voi	accendete	/attʃenˈdete/
loro	accendono	/atˈtʃɛndono/

Two pronunciation features matter. First, the double cc before e is pronounced as a long /ttʃ/ — the same affricate as in cento, cibo, cena, but lengthened. Accendo sounds like /at-CHEN-do/ with a slight pause on the doubled consonant. Second, stress falls on the second syllable in the singular and 3pl (ac-cèn-do) and on the third in noi/voi (accen-dià-mo, accen-dé-te).

Accendo la luce, c'è troppo buio qui dentro.

I'm turning on the light, it's too dark in here.

Accendi la TV, sta per cominciare il telegiornale.

Turn on the TV, the news is about to start.

Mio padre accende il caminetto ogni sera in inverno.

My father lights the fireplace every evening in winter.

Accendiamo le candele e spegniamo le luci, è più romantico.

Let's light the candles and turn off the lights, it's more romantic.

I miei vicini accendono il barbecue tutte le domeniche d'estate.

My neighbours fire up the barbecue every Sunday in summer.

Imperfetto

Person	Form
io	accendevo
tu	accendevi
lui / lei / Lei	accendeva
noi	accendevamo
voi	accendevate
loro	accendevano

Standard -ere imperfect endings on the regular accend- stem. Used for habitual past lighting — the candle your grandmother would always light at sunset, the fireplace they used to keep burning through the cold months.

Mia nonna accendeva sempre una candela alla finestra la sera.

My grandmother always lit a candle in the window in the evening.

Da studenti accendevamo la stufa solo quando faceva veramente freddo.

As students we'd only turn on the heater when it was really cold.

Passato remoto

Person	Form
io	accesi
tu	accendesti
lui / lei / Lei	accese
noi	accendemmo
voi	accendeste
loro	accesero

The textbook -si pattern: io, lui, and loro take the contracted acces- stem with -si endings; tu, noi, and voi keep the regular accend- stem with regular endings. Same 1-3-3 distribution as prendere → presi, scendere → scesi. The irregular forms (accesi, accese, accesero) carry no written accent — stress falls on the first syllable of the irregular stem (ac-cé-si).

The double m in accendemmo distinguishes the passato remoto from the present accendiamo. Note also that accese (3sg passato remoto) and accese (the feminine plural of the participle, as in le luci accese) are spelled identically but function very differently — one is a finite verb, the other an adjective.

Quando entrò nella stanza, accese la luce d'istinto.

When she entered the room, she switched on the light by instinct.

Accendemmo un fuoco sulla spiaggia e cantammo fino all'alba.

We lit a fire on the beach and sang until dawn.

Futuro semplice

Person	Form
io	accenderò
tu	accenderai
lui / lei / Lei	accenderà
noi	accenderemo
voi	accenderete
loro	accenderanno

Regular -ere future on accender-. The 1sg accenderò and 3sg accenderà require the grave accent on the final stressed vowel.

Accenderò il forno tra mezz'ora, così sarà già caldo.

I'll turn on the oven in half an hour, that way it'll already be hot.

Quando arriverete a casa, accenderete subito il riscaldamento?

When you get home, will you turn the heating on right away?

Condizionale presente

Person	Form
io	accenderei
tu	accenderesti
lui / lei / Lei	accenderebbe
noi	accenderemmo
voi	accendereste
loro	accenderebbero

Watch the spelling trap: accenderemo (future, single m) versus accenderemmo (conditional, double m). The conditional is the polite "would-form" — accenderei volentieri ("I'd happily light"), useful for cigarettes (ti accenderei volentieri la sigaretta — "I'd happily light your cigarette for you"), candles, or fireplaces.

Accenderei il caminetto, ma non abbiamo più legna.

I'd light the fireplace, but we're out of wood.

In una serata così fredda, accenderemmo subito tutte le stufe.

On such a cold evening, we'd turn on all the heaters right away.

Congiuntivo presente

Person	Form
(che) io	accenda
(che) tu	accenda
(che) lui / lei	accenda
(che) noi	accendiamo
(che) voi	accendiate
(che) loro	accendano

Three singulars collapse into accenda. The noi form accendiamo is identical to the indicative and the imperative; context resolves it.

È meglio che tu accenda il telefono, potrebbero chiamarti.

You'd better turn your phone on, they might call you.

Voglio che accendano tutte le luci prima dell'arrivo degli ospiti.

I want them to turn on all the lights before the guests arrive.

Congiuntivo imperfetto

Person	Form
(che) io	accendessi
(che) tu	accendessi
(che) lui / lei	accendesse
(che) noi	accendessimo
(che) voi	accendeste
(che) loro	accendessero

Standard imperfect-subjunctive endings on the regular stem. Used in counterfactuals and past-tense subjunctive contexts.

Se accendessimo il proiettore in giardino, potremmo vedere il film all'aperto.

If we set up the projector in the garden, we could watch the film outside.

Imperativo

Person	Form
tu	accendi
Lei (formal)	accenda
noi	accendiamo
voi	accendete
loro (formal pl.)	accendano

Accendi! is one of the most-used imperatives in everyday Italian — accendi la luce, accendi la TV, accendi il forno. The negative tu form takes the infinitive: non accendere. Stress matters: accèndi (imperative tu) is identical to accèndi (indicative tu) — context disambiguates.

Accendi la luce, non vedo niente!

Turn on the light, I can't see a thing!

Non accendere il forno, sto ancora preparando l'impasto.

Don't turn on the oven, I'm still mixing the dough.

Forme non finite

Form	Italian
Infinito presente	accendere
Infinito passato	aver(e) acceso
Gerundio presente	accendendo
Gerundio passato	avendo acceso
Participio passato	acceso

The participle acceso is the second irregularity, formed on the acces- stem. As an adjective, acceso functions normally — una luce accesa (a light that's on), gli occhi accesi (bright eyes), un dibattito acceso (a heated debate), un colore acceso (a bright, vivid colour). It also surfaces on shop signs and electrical equipment as ON / ACCESO versus OFF / SPENTO.

The figurative use acceso = "vivid, bright, intense" deserves attention. Italians speak of colori accesi (vivid colours), occhi accesi (eyes that shine), and un dibattito acceso (a heated debate, a fiery argument) — the same word, the same agreement pattern, but a metaphorical extension of "lit up" that English splits across multiple adjectives.

Avendo acceso tutte le luci, la casa sembrava una nave illuminata.

With all the lights on, the house looked like an illuminated ship.

Compound tenses (auxiliary: avere)

Accendere is transitive and takes avere in every compound tense. The participle acceso stays invariable unless preceded by a direct-object pronoun, in which case it agrees with that pronoun in gender and number.

Tense	io	tu	noi
Passato prossimo	ho acceso	hai acceso	abbiamo acceso
Trapassato prossimo	avevo acceso	avevi acceso	avevamo acceso
Trapassato remoto	ebbi acceso	avesti acceso	avemmo acceso
Futuro anteriore	avrò acceso	avrai acceso	avremo acceso
Condizionale passato	avrei acceso	avresti acceso	avremmo acceso
Congiuntivo passato	abbia acceso	abbia acceso	abbiamo acceso
Congiuntivo trapassato	avessi acceso	avessi acceso	avessimo acceso

Ho acceso il computer dieci minuti fa, dovrebbe essere già pronto.

I turned on the computer ten minutes ago, it should already be ready.

Le candele? Le ho accese tutte poco prima dell'arrivo degli invitati.

The candles? I lit them all just before the guests arrived.

In the second example, accese agrees with the preceding le (feminine plural).

Accendersi — the reflexive

The reflexive accendersi describes something turning on by itself, igniting spontaneously, or — figuratively — a person lighting up emotionally. Reflexives take essere as their auxiliary, and the participle agrees with the subject.

Le luci si accendono automaticamente al tramonto.

The lights come on automatically at sunset.

Si è accesa una discussione animata sulla politica.

A lively political debate flared up.

Le si sono accesi gli occhi quando ha visto il regalo.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the present.

Antonym pair: accendere ↔ spegnere

Italian pairs accendere and spegnere as natural antonyms across every domain. Drilling them as a unit is the fastest path to fluency in this lexical field.

Action	Accendere (on)	Spegnere (off)
luce / lampada	accendere la luce	spegnere la luce
TV / radio	accendere la TV	spegnere la TV
computer / cellulare	accendere il computer	spegnere il computer
motore / macchina	accendere il motore	spegnere il motore
forno / fornello	accendere il forno	spegnere il forno
candela / fuoco	accendere una candela	spegnere una candela
sigaretta	accendere una sigaretta	spegnere la sigaretta
fig.: passione, dibattito	accendere una passione	spegnere l'entusiasmo

Note the asymmetry of the participles: acceso (-so pattern) versus spento (-nto pattern). Both are irregular, both must be memorised, but they belong to different families.

Hai acceso il forno? — No, l'ho spento poco fa.

Did you turn the oven on? — No, I turned it off a moment ago.

Set phrases and idioms

accendere una sigaretta / il fuoco — to light a cigarette / fire
accendere il motore — to start the engine
accendere un mutuo — to take out a mortgage (a striking idiom — Italian "lights" a loan)
accendere un debito — to incur a debt
accendere la fantasia — to fire the imagination
accendere una passione — to kindle a passion
a luci accese — with the lights on (often: in public, openly)
occhi accesi (di gioia, di rabbia) — eyes shining (with joy, anger)
colori accesi — vivid colours

Hanno acceso un mutuo trentennale per comprare la casa.

They took out a thirty-year mortgage to buy the house.

La sua nuova passione per la fotografia gli ha acceso la vita.

His new passion for photography has lit up his life.

Common mistakes

❌ Ho accenduto la luce.

Incorrect — accendere has an irregular participle.

✅ Ho acceso la luce.

Correct — acceso is the irregular -so participle.

❌ Lui accendé il fuoco e si sedette accanto.

Incorrect — the passato remoto is irregular.

✅ Lui accese il fuoco e si sedette accanto.

Correct — accese with the irregular -s- stem.

❌ Sono acceso il computer un'ora fa.

Incorrect — accendere takes avere, not essere; the reflexive accendersi takes essere but means something different.

✅ Ho acceso il computer un'ora fa.

Correct — transitive accendere takes avere.

❌ La candela è accesa da sola.

Incorrect — to express that the candle lit on its own, use the reflexive in the past.

✅ La candela si è accesa da sola.

Correct — accendersi (reflexive) for spontaneous lighting.

❌ Penso che lui accende troppe candele.

Incorrect — penso che triggers the subjunctive.

✅ Penso che lui accenda troppe candele.

Correct — accenda is the congiuntivo presente.

❌ La luce è acceso.

Incorrect — when used as an adjective, acceso must agree with the feminine luce.

✅ La luce è accesa.

Correct — accesa agrees with the feminine subject.

Key takeaways

Accendere is a -si/-so verb: passato remoto accesi / accese / accesero (1-3-3), participle acceso. Same template as prendere → presi/preso and scendere → scesi/sceso.
The auxiliary is always avere for the transitive verb. Use essere only for the reflexive accendersi (something turning on spontaneously, eyes lighting up, a debate flaring).
The double cc before e/i is pronounced as a long /ttʃ/ — accendo is /at-CHEN-do/, with audible consonant lengthening. This is consistent across all forms of the verb.
The participle acceso functions as an adjective with a productive figurative range: colori accesi (vivid colours), un dibattito acceso (heated debate), gli occhi accesi (eyes shining). It agrees in gender and number like any adjective.
The mandatory companion verb is spegnere (to turn off). Drill them as a pair across every domain — lights, electronics, vehicles, fires, passions — and you will own the entire "on/off" lexicon at once.

For the broader pattern of -si/-so verbs, see prendere and the irregular -si pattern. For the participle as an adjective, see past participle as adjective.

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