Scegliere is the everyday verb for choosing — selecting from options, picking a candidate, making up your mind. It conjugates the same way as a small but high-frequency family of verbs ending in -gliere: togliere (to remove), cogliere (to pick, to grasp), sciogliere (to dissolve, to untie), accogliere (to welcome), and a few more. Because they all share the same pattern, learning scegliere unlocks the whole group.
The conjugation has two interlocking irregularities: a -lg- / -gli- alternation in the stem, and an irregular past participle (scelto, not scegliuto). The pronunciation also requires care — the -gli- sequence is one of Italian's distinctive palatal sounds, and the initial sc- before e or i is /ʃ/ (the "sh" sound).
The conjugation
| Person | Conjugation | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| io | scelgo | scèlgo |
| tu | scegli | scègli |
| lui / lei / Lei | sceglie | scèglie |
| noi | scegliamo | scegliàmo |
| voi | scegliete | scegliète |
| loro | scelgono | scèlgono |
Scelgo sempre il vino della casa, è un buon compromesso.
I always go for the house wine, it's a good compromise.
Cosa scegli, pizza o pasta?
What are you having, pizza or pasta?
Mio fratello sceglie sempre i film più noiosi.
My brother always picks the most boring films.
Scegliamo insieme il regalo per la mamma.
Let's pick out mom's present together.
Scegliete voi dove andare a cena.
You guys decide where to go for dinner.
I clienti scelgono sempre il prodotto più economico.
Customers always pick the cheapest product.
The -lg- / -gli- alternation
Look at the stems and you see two shapes:
- scelg- in io and loro (scelgo, scelgono)
- scegl- everywhere else (scegli, sceglie, scegliamo, scegliete)
The pattern is: when the next sound is -o (in 1sg and 3pl), the stem appears as -lg- and the consonant cluster is pronounced literally as /lg/. When the next sound is -i- or -e-, the stem appears as -gl- (more specifically, -gli-), pronounced as the Italian palatal lateral /ʎ/ — the same sound you hear in figlio /ˈfiʎo/, famiglia /faˈmiʎa/, meglio /ˈmɛʎo/.
This is not random: the -gl- spelling represents the palatal sound only when followed by i (and in some loans, by other vowels, but standard Italian uses it almost exclusively before i). When the verb's ending is -o, there's no following i, so the -gl- spelling can't mark a palatal sound. The historical solution was to insert a -g- that combines with the existing -l- to give -lg-, pronounced /lg/.
The initial sc- /ʃ/ pronunciation
A separate pronunciation point: in Italian, the cluster sc- is pronounced as /ʃ/ ("sh") when followed by e or i, and as /sk/ when followed by a, o, u or by the silent h. So:
- scelgo — /ʃ/ + /e/ — pronounced "shel-go"
- scegli — /ʃ/ + /e/ — pronounced "shay-lyee"
- scuola ("school") — /sk/ + /u/ — pronounced "skwo-la"
- scherzo ("joke") — /sk/ + /e/ (with silent h) — pronounced "sker-tso"
This pattern parallels the c/ch and g/gh rules: a silent h keeps the consonant "hard," its absence lets the consonant become palatal before front vowels. With scegliere, every form starts with the /ʃ/ sound — there's no orthographic ambiguity within the conjugation itself.
The past participle: scelto
The past participle of scegliere is scelto — completely irregular. There's no way to derive it from the infinitive: you wouldn't predict scegliuto (which doesn't exist) and you wouldn't expect the -glie- to compress into -el-. You simply have to know it.
Ho scelto un libro al volo, non avevo tempo.
I picked a book in a hurry, I didn't have time.
Hanno scelto Marco come capogruppo.
They chose Marco as group leader.
Le strade che abbiamo scelto erano tutte chiuse.
The roads we chose were all closed.
Scegliere takes avere as its auxiliary in compound tenses (it's a transitive verb — you choose something), so the participle does not agree with the subject. It does, however, agree with a preceding direct-object pronoun:
Le ho scelte io, queste scarpe.
I picked them, these shoes. (le → feminine plural agreement: scelte)
Quale hai scelto?
Which one did you pick? (no preceding pronoun → no agreement: scelto)
The passato remoto: the -si pattern
The passato remoto of scegliere is irregular and follows the -si pattern — a category of strong verbs whose 1sg, 3sg, and 3pl forms end in -si, -se, -sero, while the 2sg, 1pl, and 2pl forms keep the regular -ere endings.
| Person | Form | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| io | scelsi | irregular -si |
| tu | scegliesti | regular |
| lui / lei | scelse | irregular -se |
| noi | scegliemmo | regular |
| voi | sceglieste | regular |
| loro | scelsero | irregular -sero |
This 1-3-1 / 2-1-2 split (irregular-regular-irregular / regular-regular-regular alternating with person) is sometimes called the alternating pattern or rizotonic vs arrizotonic split. The irregular forms have stress on the root (scél-si, scél-se, scél-sero); the regular forms have stress on the ending (sceglié-sti, scegliém-mo, scegliés-te). Same pattern shows up in dozens of -ere verbs (prendere → presi/prese/presero, mettere → misi/mise/misero, vedere → vidi/vide/videro).
Scelse di restare a Milano.
He chose to stay in Milan. (passato remoto, literary register)
Quel giorno scelsi una strada diversa.
That day I chose a different path.
The passato remoto is heavily literary in northern and central Italy and standard in southern Italy. In everyday speech, most Italians use the passato prossimo (ho scelto) instead — the passato remoto belongs to writing, narration, and historical contexts.
The -gliere family
Scegliere is one of a family of verbs that share its conjugation pattern exactly. Once you know scegliere, you know them all.
| Verb | Meaning | 1sg | 2sg | 3pl | Past participle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scegliere | to choose | scelgo | scegli | scelgono | scelto |
| togliere | to remove | tolgo | togli | tolgono | tolto |
| cogliere | to pick / grasp | colgo | cogli | colgono | colto |
| sciogliere | to dissolve / untie | sciolgo | sciogli | sciolgono | sciolto |
| accogliere | to welcome | accolgo | accogli | accolgono | accolto |
| raccogliere | to gather / pick up | raccolgo | raccogli | raccolgono | raccolto |
The whole -gliere family shares the -lg- / -gli- alternation, the -lto past participle, and the -si passato remoto pattern. Memorize the pattern once and the family comes for free.
Togli le scarpe prima di entrare.
Take your shoes off before coming in.
Cogliamo l'occasione per ringraziarvi.
We take this opportunity to thank you.
Sciolgo lo zucchero nel caffè.
I dissolve the sugar in the coffee.
High-frequency uses
Scegliere is the standard verb for almost every "choose" or "pick" context in Italian. A few patterns are worth knowing.
Scegliere tra / fra (choose between)
To choose between options, Italian uses scegliere tra or scegliere fra — both prepositions are equivalent and interchangeable.
Devo scegliere tra il rosso e il bianco.
I have to choose between the red and the white.
È difficile scegliere fra tante opzioni.
It's hard to choose among so many options.
Scegliere di + infinitive (choose to)
When the choice is to do something, scegliere takes di + infinitive — the standard preposition for verbs of decision and intention.
Ho scelto di studiare medicina.
I chose to study medicine.
Hanno scelto di non sposarsi.
They've chosen not to get married.
Scegliere come / cosa / dove + infinitive
With an interrogative word, scegliere takes a bare infinitive — no di.
Devo ancora scegliere cosa portare alla festa.
I still have to decide what to bring to the party.
Stiamo scegliendo dove andare in vacanza.
We're deciding where to go on vacation.
Common mistakes
❌ Tu scelgi sempre il vino più caro.
Incorrect — the tu form keeps -gli-, not -lg-: scegli. Only 1sg and 3pl get the -lg- form.
✅ Tu scegli sempre il vino più caro.
Correct — scegli with the regular -gli-.
❌ Lei sceglge un libro al volo.
Incorrect — the 3sg form is sceglie, not sceglge. The -lg- appears only in io (scelgo) and loro (scelgono).
✅ Lei sceglie un libro al volo.
Correct — sceglie with the regular -gli-.
❌ Ho scegliuto un regalo per te.
Incorrect — the past participle is scelto, not scegliuto.
✅ Ho scelto un regalo per te.
Correct — scelto is the irregular past participle.
❌ Devo scegliere a studiare medicina.
Incorrect — scegliere takes di + infinitive, not a + infinitive.
✅ Devo scegliere di studiare medicina.
Correct — di + infinitive after scegliere.
❌ Loro scelgiono sempre la stessa cosa.
Incorrect — the loro form is scelgono, not scelgiono. Same pattern as the io form (scelgo): no -i- before the ending.
✅ Loro scelgono sempre la stessa cosa.
Correct — scelgono with -lg-.
❌ Pronouncing 'scelgo' as /ˈskel.go/ (with sk-).
Incorrect — sc- before e or i is /ʃ/ (sh), not /sk/. Scelgo = /ˈʃɛl.go/ ('shel-go').
✅ Pronouncing 'scelgo' as /ˈʃɛl.go/ (with sh-).
Correct — sc- + e gives the palatal /ʃ/ sound.
Key takeaways
Scegliere is the model verb for the whole -gliere family. Three things to internalize:
The -lg- / -gli- alternation. Scelgo, scelgono in 1sg and 3pl (with -lg-, pronounced /lg/); scegli, sceglie, scegliamo, scegliete elsewhere (with -gli-, pronounced /ʎ/).
The irregular past participle scelto. Not scegliuto. Same -lto pattern in tolto, colto, sciolto, raccolto.
The passato remoto -si pattern. Scelsi, scegliesti, scelse, scegliemmo, sceglieste, scelsero. The 1sg/3sg/3pl forms are strong (irregular, root-stressed); the others are regular.
Once scegliere is solid, you have togliere, cogliere, sciogliere, accogliere, raccogliere essentially for free — they all conjugate identically. See the -gliere family overview for the full picture.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Presente Indicativo: OverviewA1 — How Italian's most-used tense covers everything English splits between simple present and present progressive — and why 'sto facendo' is not the default.
- The -gliere Family: togliere, cogliere, scegliere, sciogliereA2 — Six verbs that conjugate identically — once you learn the pattern for togliere, you've learned cogliere, scegliere, sciogliere, accogliere, and raccogliere all at once.
- Presente: Regular -ere VerbsA1 — How to conjugate the second-conjugation -ere verbs in the present indicative — the smallest of the three classes, but home to many of the most common verbs in the language.
- Presente: Salire (to go up / climb)A2 — How to conjugate salire — the -g- insertion in 1sg/3pl, the rare auxiliary alternation between essere and avere, and the prepositional patterns that make it useful for boarding trains, buses, and everything else.
- Auxiliary Verbs: avere, essere, stareA2 — The three auxiliary verbs that build Italian's compound tenses, the progressive, and the imminent future — and why getting them right is foundational.
- Regular vs Irregular VerbsA1 — What it means for an Italian verb to be regular, where irregularities tend to cluster, and the main families of irregular forms you will meet.