Scendere (to go down) is the natural opposite of salire and one of the highest-frequency motion verbs in Italian. You scend stairs, mountains, and ladders; you scend from a train, a bus, or a horse; you scend in price, in temperature, in volume; and you scend metaphorically — scendere a compromessi (to make concessions), scendere in piazza (to take to the streets in protest). The verb's morphology is regular in the present, imperfect, future, conditional, and subjunctive, with two diagnostic irregularities: the passato remoto (scesi / scese / scesero — the canonical -si pattern) and the participle (sceso — the matching -so form).
The verb's etymology illuminates the irregularity. Scendere comes from Latin descendere (to climb down), with the de- prefix lost in the journey to Italian — leaving behind the bare scendere, which still carries the "down" meaning of the lost prefix. The Latin perfect was descendi and the supine was descensum; that -ns- root, simplified, gives the modern Italian -s- stem in scesi and sceso. The same shape — -end- → -es- — also drives prendere → presi/preso, spendere → spesi/speso, rendere → resi/reso. Once you've internalised one, you've internalised the family.
What makes scendere genuinely interesting for learners — and what trips up otherwise-competent intermediate speakers — is its auxiliary split. Sono sceso vs ho sceso is not a stylistic choice; it tracks transitivity, and getting it right is one of the markers of confident Italian.
Indicativo presente
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| io | scendo | /ˈʃɛndo/ |
| tu | scendi | /ˈʃɛndi/ |
| lui / lei / Lei | scende | /ˈʃɛnde/ |
| noi | scendiamo | /ʃenˈdjamo/ |
| voi | scendete | /ʃenˈdete/ |
| loro | scendono | /ˈʃɛndono/ |
Fully regular endings on the scend- stem. The pronunciation is what learners need to lock in: the cluster sc before e or i is pronounced /ʃ/ (the English sh sound), so scendo is /ˈʃɛndo/, not /ˈskendo/. Italian sc before e/i always behaves this way (sci, scena, sciroppo, scendere); before a/o/u it stays /sk/ (scarpa, scopo, scuola). Mispronouncing scendo as /ˈskendo/ marks a learner instantly.
Scendo subito, sto solo prendendo la giacca.
I'm coming down right away, I'm just grabbing my jacket.
A che fermata scendi di solito?
What stop do you usually get off at?
L'ascensore scende lentamente, è meglio prendere le scale.
The elevator goes down slowly, it's better to take the stairs.
Scendiamo a Napoli per il fine settimana.
We're going down to Naples for the weekend.
In autunno le temperature scendono in fretta.
In autumn the temperatures drop quickly.
Imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | scendevo |
| tu | scendevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | scendeva |
| noi | scendevamo |
| voi | scendevate |
| loro | scendevano |
Standard -ere imperfect endings on the regular scend- stem. Used for habitual past descents — the elevator that used to go down without working, the route you would always take coming home from school, an action ongoing when something else interrupted it.
Da bambino scendevo sempre le scale di corsa.
As a kid I always ran down the stairs.
Scendevamo dal treno proprio mentre arrivava il temporale.
We were getting off the train just as the storm was arriving.
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | scesi |
| tu | scendesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | scese |
| noi | scendemmo |
| voi | scendeste |
| loro | scesero |
The textbook -si pattern in 1-3-3 distribution: io, lui, and loro take the contracted sces- stem with the -si ending; tu, noi, and voi keep the regular scend- stem with regular endings. The contraction -end- → -es- is exactly the same shape that gives prendere → presi, spendere → spesi, rendere → resi, appendere → appesi. Recognising this is one of the most productive single moves in Italian morphology — it unlocks dozens of verbs at once.
The double m in scendemmo distinguishes the passato remoto from the present scendiamo. The irregular forms (scesi, scese, scesero) carry no written accent; stress falls naturally on the first syllable.
Scese dal palco senza dire una parola.
She came down from the stage without saying a word.
Scendemmo a Firenze per visitare gli Uffizi.
We went down to Florence to visit the Uffizi.
Futuro semplice
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | scenderò |
| tu | scenderai |
| lui / lei / Lei | scenderà |
| noi | scenderemo |
| voi | scenderete |
| loro | scenderanno |
Regular -ere future on the predictable scender- stem. The 1sg scenderò and 3sg scenderà require the grave accent on the final vowel.
Scenderò alla prossima fermata, grazie.
I'll get off at the next stop, thanks.
I prezzi non scenderanno prima della fine dell'anno.
Prices won't come down before the end of the year.
Condizionale presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | scenderei |
| tu | scenderesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | scenderebbe |
| noi | scenderemmo |
| voi | scendereste |
| loro | scenderebbero |
The familiar trap: scenderemo (future, single m) versus scenderemmo (conditional, double m). Used for polite suggestions and counterfactuals — scenderei volentieri, scenderebbe più di un grado.
Scenderei volentieri al bar, ma sto aspettando una telefonata importante.
I'd happily go down to the café, but I'm waiting for an important call.
Senza il riscaldamento, la temperatura scenderebbe sotto zero.
Without the heating, the temperature would drop below freezing.
Congiuntivo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | scenda |
| (che) tu | scenda |
| (che) lui / lei | scenda |
| (che) noi | scendiamo |
| (che) voi | scendiate |
| (che) loro | scendano |
Three singulars collapse into scenda. As with most -ere verbs, the noi subjunctive (scendiamo) is identical to the indicative noi and the noi imperative — context resolves which one is in play.
Bisogna che tu scenda con cura, le scale sono bagnate.
You need to come down carefully, the stairs are wet.
Speriamo che scendano presto i prezzi delle case.
Let's hope housing prices come down soon.
Congiuntivo imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | scendessi |
| (che) tu | scendessi |
| (che) lui / lei | scendesse |
| (che) noi | scendessimo |
| (che) voi | scendeste |
| (che) loro | scendessero |
Standard imperfect-subjunctive endings on the regular stem. The voi form scendeste is identical to the passato remoto scendeste — context disambiguates.
Se scendessimo prima a Bologna, potremmo cenare all'osteria di sempre.
If we got off in Bologna first, we could have dinner at the usual osteria.
Imperativo
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | scendi |
| Lei (formal) | scenda |
| noi | scendiamo |
| voi | scendete |
| loro (formal pl.) | scendano |
Scendi! is what a parent shouts when a child has climbed somewhere it shouldn't. Scendete! is what a tour guide says to disembark from a bus. The negative tu form takes the infinitive: non scendere. Scenda pure, with the polite intensifier pure, is the standard formal "go ahead and come down" — what a doorman or host might say.
Scendi, ti aspetto giù in cortile.
Come down, I'm waiting for you in the courtyard.
Scenda pure, signora — l'ascensore funziona.
Please come down, ma'am — the elevator is working.
Forme non finite
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | scendere |
| Infinito passato | essere sceso/a/i/e or aver(e) sceso |
| Gerundio presente | scendendo |
| Gerundio passato | essendo sceso or avendo sceso |
| Participio passato | sceso |
The participle sceso is the second irregularity, formed on the same sces- stem as the passato remoto. It belongs to the -so family alongside preso, corso, speso, reso, appeso. Used as an adjective, sceso still functions normally, agreeing in gender and number — un treno sceso a Roma, una valigia scesa con cura.
The infinitive past has two shapes — essere sceso or aver sceso — depending on the auxiliary required by the meaning. We turn to that next.
Avendo sceso le scale di corsa, sono arrivato senza fiato.
Having run down the stairs, I arrived out of breath.
The auxiliary split — essere vs avere
This is scendere's defining complication and one of the cleanest examples of the transitivity-driven auxiliary split in Italian. The rule is purely structural:
- Essere when scendere is intransitive — no direct object. The verb describes the subject's own descent. The participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.
- Avere when scendere is transitive — when the descent applies to a direct object that the subject brings down or moves down. The participle stays invariable unless preceded by a direct-object pronoun.
The trickiest cases involve le scale (the stairs) because Italian uses both constructions and the meaning shifts subtly:
- Sono sceso dalle scale — "I came down (off) the stairs" — le scale is part of a prepositional phrase (dalle scale), not the direct object. Intransitive: essere.
- Ho sceso le scale — "I went down the stairs" — le scale is the direct object you traversed. Transitive: avere.
- Sono sceso giù — "I came down" — purely intransitive, no object, essere.
- Ho sceso la valigia — "I brought the suitcase down" — la valigia is the direct object you moved. Transitive: avere.
This is one of the few places where Italian closely tracks an action's argument structure in the auxiliary system, and it's why scendere is used as a textbook example. Compare with salire, which has exactly the same auxiliary split, and with correre, where the split runs along a different axis (directional vs activity rather than transitive vs intransitive).
Essere — intransitive scendere
Siamo scesi dal treno a Bologna.
We got off the train in Bologna.
È scesa al pianterreno per controllare la posta.
She went down to the ground floor to check the mail.
Sono scesi tutti dall'autobus alla fermata sbagliata.
They all got off the bus at the wrong stop.
Le temperature sono scese di dieci gradi in una sola notte.
Temperatures dropped ten degrees in a single night.
Avere — transitive scendere
Ho sceso le scale due gradini alla volta.
I came down the stairs two steps at a time.
Ho sceso il bagaglio dalla cappelliera.
I took the luggage down from the overhead bin.
Hanno sceso il pianoforte in cantina con grande fatica.
They moved the piano down to the basement with great effort.
For the broader picture of when an Italian verb can take either auxiliary, see verbs with ambiguous auxiliary. Note: scendere is not genuinely ambiguous in any single sentence — once you fix the syntax, the auxiliary follows mechanically. The "ambiguity" is a feature of the verb across sentences, not within them.
Compound tenses
Below is the model paradigm for both auxiliary patterns. With essere (intransitive), the participle agrees with the subject — è scesa, sono scesi, sono scese. With avere (transitive), the participle stays invariable unless preceded by a direct-object pronoun, in which case it agrees with that pronoun: le scale? le ho scese ("the stairs? I went down them").
| Tense | Intransitive (essere) | Transitive (avere) |
|---|---|---|
| Passato prossimo | sono sceso | ho sceso |
| Trapassato prossimo | ero sceso | avevo sceso |
| Trapassato remoto | fui sceso | ebbi sceso |
| Futuro anteriore | sarò sceso | avrò sceso |
| Condizionale passato | sarei sceso | avrei sceso |
| Congiuntivo passato | sia sceso | abbia sceso |
| Congiuntivo trapassato | fossi sceso | avessi sceso |
Quando arrivai, era già sceso al bar a fare colazione.
When I arrived, he had already gone down to the café for breakfast.
Le valigie? Le avevo già scese in macchina.
The suitcases? I'd already brought them down to the car.
Idiomatic uses
Scendere has a productive figurative range:
- scendere a compromessi — to make concessions, to compromise
- scendere in piazza — to take to the streets (in protest)
- scendere in campo — to enter the fray, to step into the arena
- scendere a patti (con qualcuno) — to come to terms (with someone)
- scendere nei dettagli — to go into the details
- scendere a Roma / Napoli / Bari (etc.) — to go down to Rome / Naples / Bari (from a more northerly city; geographic usage)
- far scendere (qualcuno) — to drop someone off
Non sono disposto a scendere a compromessi su questo punto.
I'm not willing to compromise on this point.
Migliaia di persone sono scese in piazza per protestare contro la riforma.
Thousands of people took to the streets to protest the reform.
Mi fai scendere all'angolo, per favore?
Could you drop me off at the corner, please?
Senza scendere troppo nei dettagli tecnici, posso dirvi questo.
Without going too far into the technical details, I can tell you this.
Common mistakes
❌ Ho scendido dal treno a Roma.
Incorrect — the participle is sceso, not scendido.
✅ Sono sceso dal treno a Roma.
Correct — sceso is the irregular -so participle, and intransitive scendere takes essere.
❌ Sono sceso le scale due alla volta.
Incorrect — with the direct object le scale, scendere is transitive and takes avere.
✅ Ho sceso le scale due alla volta.
Correct — le scale is the direct object; transitive scendere takes avere.
❌ Ho sceso dal treno a Bologna.
Incorrect — without a direct object (dal treno is a prepositional phrase), scendere is intransitive and takes essere.
✅ Sono sceso dal treno a Bologna.
Correct — intransitive scendere takes essere.
❌ Lei scendé dalla macchina lentamente.
Incorrect — the passato remoto is irregular.
✅ Lei scese dalla macchina lentamente.
Correct — scese with the irregular -s- stem.
❌ Penso che il prezzo scende presto.
Incorrect — penso che triggers the subjunctive.
✅ Penso che il prezzo scenda presto.
Correct — scenda is the congiuntivo presente.
❌ Maria è sceso al pianterreno.
Incorrect — with essere, the participle must agree with the feminine subject.
✅ Maria è scesa al pianterreno.
Correct — scesa agrees with feminine singular Maria.
Key takeaways
Scendere is a -si/-so verb: passato remoto scesi / scese / scesero (1-3-3 -si pattern), participle sceso. The contraction -end- → -es- is the same shape that gives presi/preso, spesi/speso, resi/reso — once you know one, you have a productive template.
The auxiliary is structurally determined: essere when intransitive (no direct object), avere when transitive (with a direct object). Sono sceso dal treno (intransitive) vs ho sceso le scale (transitive). This is not a stylistic choice and not a grey area — it's a direct reflex of the syntax.
The pronunciation of sc before e or i is /ʃ/ (English sh): scendo is /ˈʃɛndo/, not /ˈskendo/. This is the same /ʃ/ that you hear in sci, scia, scenografia.
The double m in scendemmo (passato remoto noi) and scenderemmo (conditional noi) is the orthographic carrier of the morphological information.
The Latin etymology helps: descendere lost its de- prefix on the way to Italian but kept the meaning. The supine descensum gives the modern scens-/sces- stem in the irregular forms.
The mandatory companion verb is salire — opposite meaning, identical auxiliary split. Drilling them as a pair (sono salito sul treno / sono sceso dal treno; ho salito le scale / ho sceso le scale) is the fastest way to make the system stick. For the wider auxiliary system, see auxiliary choice.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Salire: Full ConjugationA2 — Complete paradigm of salire (to go up, climb, board) — an irregular -ire verb with -g- alternation and a striking auxiliary split based on transitivity.
- Correre: Full ConjugationA2 — Complete paradigm of correre (to run) — a -si/-so verb with an irregular passato remoto (corsi), an irregular participle (corso), and a famous flexible auxiliary that switches between essere and avere depending on whether you're describing a destination or an activity.
- Prendere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of prendere (to take) — a regular -ere verb with the diagnostic -si passato remoto (presi) and irregular -so participle (preso), and a large family of compounds that all conjugate alike.
- Auxiliary Selection: Essere vs Avere (The Critical Decision)A1 — The single grammatical decision that determines how every Italian compound tense works — when to use essere, when to use avere, and how to predict the right answer for any verb.
- Verbs with Ambiguous Auxiliary (correre, cambiare, volare)B1 — The handful of Italian verbs that take essere or avere depending on meaning — directional vs activity, intransitive vs transitive — and the principle that lets you predict them all.
- Passato Remoto: The -si Pattern (Strong Perfects)B1 — The single most productive irregular pattern in the Italian passato remoto — one rule that conjugates dozens of high-frequency -ere verbs from prendere to scrivere to leggere.