Past tenses in Italian
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In the following pages you will find information on the past tenses that belong to the indicative mood:
Here is a chart to sum up the main past tenses of the indicative mood:
When to use it | How to form it | |
---|---|---|
Passato prossimo | action that took place in recent past | Presente indicativo auxiliary verb + past participle main verb |
Imperfetto | a continued action that lasted an indefinite time in the past |
|
Trapassato prossimo | a past action that took place before another action took place | Imperfetto auxiliary verb + past participle main verb |
Passato remoto | an action which was concluded in the distant past |
|
Trapassato remoto | in subordinate clauses: a past action that took place before another action introduced by the passato remoto | Passato remoto auxiliary verb + past participle main verb |
This compound tense in Italian is called passato prossimo.
This tense is used to refer to:
This tense is usually found with marker words such as ieri (yesterday), questa mattina (this morning), appena (just) and prima (before).
The passato prossimo in formed by:
Present indicative of the auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb
Examples:
Some Italian verbs form the past participle in a regular way:
Some Italian verbs form the past participle in an irregular way so they have to be studied by heart:
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Here is a chart to help you with the conjugation of Italian verbs in the passato prossimo.
Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Parlare (to speak) | Vendere (to sell) | Finire (to finish) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Io | sono stato/a | ho avuto | ho parlato | ho venduto | ho finito |
Tu | sei stato/a | hai avuto | hai parlato | hai venduto | hai finito |
Egli/Ella | è stato/a | ha avuto | ha parlato | ha venduto | ha finito |
Noi | siamo stati/e | abbiamo avuto | abbiamo parlato | abbiamo venduto | abbiamo finito |
Voi | siete stati/e | avete avuto | avete parlato | avete venduto | avete finito |
Essi/Esse | sono stati/e | hanno avuto | hanno parlato | hanno venduto | hanno finito |
All transitive verbs form the passato prossimo using the auxiliary verb avere.
The majority of intransitive verbs form the passato prossimo using the auxiliary verb essere. When a compound tense is formed with the verb essere, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number.
Examples:
This tense in Italian is called imperfetto.
The imperfetto is used to refer to a continued action that lasted an indefinite time in the past.
The imperfetto can be found with marker words such as mentre (while), da piccolo (when I was a child), quando avevo 5/10 anni (when I was 5/10 years old).
Regular verbs form the imperfetto by adding certain endings to the root of the verb:
Examples:
Irregular verbs have to be studied by heart because they do not follow grammatical rules:
Here is a chart to help you understand how the imperfetto is formed:
Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Mangiare (to eat) | Scrivere (to write) | Mentire (to lie) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Io | ero | avevo | mangiavo | scrivevo | mentivo |
Tu | eri | avevi | mangiavi | scrivevi | mentivi |
Egli/Ella | era | aveva | mangiava | scriveva | mentiva |
Noi | eravamo | avevamo | mangiavamo | scrivevamo | mentivamo |
Voi | eravate | avevate | mangiavate | scrivevate | mentivate |
Essi/Esse | erano | avevano | mangiavano | scrivevano | mentivano |
This compound tense in Italian is called trapassato prossimo.
This tense refers to:
Examples:
The trapassato prossimo is formed by:
Imperfetto of the auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb
Some Italian verbs from the past participle in a regular way:
Some Italian verbs form the past participle in an irregular way so they have to be studied by heart:
Here is a chart to help you with the conjugation of verbs in the trapassato prossimo.
Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Mangiare (to eat) | Credere (to believe) | Partire (to leave) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Io | ero stato/a | avevo avuto | avevo mangiato | avevo creduto | ero partito/a |
Tu | eri stato/a | avevi avuto | avevi mangiato | avevi creduto | eri partito/a |
Egli/Ella | era stato/a | aveva avuto | aveva mangiato | aveva creduto | era partito/a |
Noi | eravamo stati/e | avevamo avuto | avevamo mangiato | avevamo creduto | eravamo partiti/e |
Voi | eravate stati/e | avevate avuto | avevate mangiato | avevate creduto | eravate partiti/e |
Essi/Esse | erano stati/e | avevano avuto | avevano mangiato | avevano creduto | erano partiti/e |
This tense in Italian is called passato remoto.
This tense is used to refer to an action that took place in the distant past.
This tense can be found with marker words such as 5/10 anni fa (5/10 years ago), l'anno scorso (last year), nel 1300/1500 (in 1300/1500).
Regular verbs form the passato remoto by adding certain endings to the root of the verb:
Examples:
Irregular verbs change their conjugation for the first and third person singular (io, egli/ella) and for the third person plural (essi/esse) have to be studied by heart.
Some of these verbs have to be studied by heart:
Others fall within two categories:
Here you can find a chart to understand how the passato remoto is formed:
Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Amare (to love) | Temere (to fear) | Servire (to serve) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Io | fui | ebbi | amai | temei/étti | servii |
Tu | fosti | avesti | amasti | temesti | servisti |
Egli/Ella | fu | ebbe | amò | temé/ette | servì |
Noi | fummo | avemmo | amammo | tememmo | servimmo |
Voi | foste | aveste | amaste | temeste | serviste |
Essi/Esse | furono | ebbero | amarono | temerono/ettero | servirono |
This compound tense in Italian is called trapassato remoto.
This tense refers to an action that took place in the past before another action introduced by the passato remoto. This is why the trapassato remoto is usually found in subordinate clauses.
This tense can be found with marker words such as quando (when), non appena (as soon as), dopo che (after).
Examples:
The trapassato remoto is formed by:
Passato remoto of the auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb
Some Italian verbs form the past participle in a regular way:
Some Italian verbs form the past participle in an irregular way:
Here you can find a chart to help you to understand how the trapassato remoto is formed:
Essere (to be) | Avere (to have) | Mangiare (to eat) | Credere (to believe) | Dormire (to sleep) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Io | fui stato/a | ebbi avuto | ebbi mangiato | ebbi creduto | ebbi dormito |
Tu | fosti stato/a | avesti avuto | avesti mangiato | avesti creduto | avesti dormito |
Egli/Ella | fu stato/a | ebbe avuto | ebbe mangiato | ebbe creduto | ebbe dormito |
Noi | fummo stati/e | avemmo avuto | avemmo mangiato | avemmo creduto | avemmo dormito |
Voi | foste stati/e | aveste avuto | aveste mangiato | aveste creduto | aveste dormito |
Essi/Esse | furono stati/e | ebbero avuto | ebbero mangiato | ebbero creduto | ebbero dormito |
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Hello Everybody
My name is Luisa and I teach Italian for foreign students, English, French and German for Italian students
Since 1994, I have dedicated myself to translating and teaching thanks to my travels, abroad studies, foreign reading and writing. I provide fun and customized lessons based on the student's goals. I also triy to minimize English speaking during the lessons. I give homework exercises, and my lessons are intermixed with grammar, conversation, customs and traditions. My goal is to make certain that each student finds learning Italian exciting.
I am available for any explanations also via e mail
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1 Present perfect (passato prossimo) in Italian | A lesson on the Italian passato prossimo tense |
2 Imperfect (imperfetto) in Italian | A lesson on the imperfect tense in Italian (imperfetto) |
3 Past perfect (trapassato prossimo) in Italian | Course on the Italian trapassato prossimo |
4 Absolute past tense (passato remoto) in Italian | Course on the Italian absolute past tense (passato remoto) |
5 Preterite perfect tense (trapassato remoto) in Italian | Course on the Italian trapassato remoto |