Italian Passato Prossimo

 

What is the Passato Prossimo?

Passato Prossimo is the main past tense in Italian.

In English this would be the simple past and present perfect tenses.

Examples:
Ho mangiato – I ate, I have eaten
Sono andato – I went, I have gone

When do I use the Passato Prossimo in Italian?

You have to use Passato Prossimo in Italian when talking about:

  •  events in the recent past
    Example:
    Ieri sono andata a ballare.
    Yesterday I went dancing.
  •  an event that happened a long time ago, but that still have effects on the present
    Example:
    Ho preso la laurea nel 1999.
    I graduated in 1999.
  •  an action that took place in a period of time that hasn’t ended
    Example:
    Questa settimana ho bevuto solo cinque caffè.
    This week I drank only five coffees.
    (The week is still going on.)

Common expressions used with Passato Prossimo in Italian

There are some words, adverbs or expressions, that you can use when saying something in the passato prossimo in Italian. Here the most common ones:

ieri – yesterday
ieri mattina – yesterday morning
ieri pomeriggio – yesterday afternoon
ieri sera – last night
l’altro ieri – the day before yesterday
due giorni fa – two days ago
una settimana fa – one week ago
mercoledì¬ scorso – last Wednesday
un anno fa – one year ago
la settimana scorsa – last week
il mese scorso – last month
l’anno scorso – last year
un’ora fa – one hour ago
alcuni giorni fa – some days ago

How do I make the Passato Prossimo in Italian?

Passato Prossimo = Presente Avere/Essere + Participio Passato

Examples:

Ho mangiato – I ate
Sono andato – I went

As you can see in the examples Passato Prossimo is a compound tense: in order to make the Passato Prossimo you will need to combine two elements:

  1. An auxiliary verb essere or avere in the present tense. 
  2. The past participle of the verb you want to turn into the past, in Italian Participio Passato.

When to use essere or avere with passato prossimo depends on the verb that we want to turn into the past tense, for example mangiare (to eat) requires avere (ho mangiato), while andare (to go) uses essere (sono andato). I will explain how to select the right verb in more detail later in this article.

Once you picked the right auxiliary (essere or avere) you will have to conjugate it in the present tense agreeing with the subject of the sentence. 

Let’s refresh the verbs essere (to be) and avere (to have) in the present tense of the indicative mood: 

Avere (to have):

 

(io) ho – I have

(tu) hai – you have

(lui, lei) ha – he, she has

(noi) abbiamo – we have

(voi) avete – you (pl.) have

(loro) hanno – they have

Essere (to be):

 

(io) sono – I am

(tu) sei – you are

(lui, lei) è – he, she is

(noi) siamo – we are

(voi) siete – you (pl.)are

(loro) sono – they are

Ok, the first step is done. Now you will need to make the past participle of the main verb.

How to make the past participle in Italian

The past participle, or participio passato,  is very easy to create. 

-ARE / -ATO

 

Mangiare / mangiato

-ERE / -UTO

 

Credere / creduto 

-IRE / -ITO

 

Dormire / dormito

  • Verbs ending in -are in the infinitive form (the not conjugated form) turn -are into -ato.
    Example:
    mangiare / mangiato
    to eat /  eaten
  • Verbs ending in -ere in the infinitive form change -ere into -uto.
    Example:
    credere / creduto
    to believe / believed
  • Verbs ending in -ire in the infinitive form replace -ire with -ito.
    Example:
    dormire / dormito
    to sleep / slept

Ok, now that you have all the ingredients, you can combine the auxiliary (essere or avere) with the past participle to make the passato prossimo

Examples:
hanno mangiato – they ate
ha creduto – he believed
avete dormito – you (pl.) slept

Passato Prossimo with essere

Pretty easy, right? However, if the verb requires the auxiliary essere there is a further step to take. The past participle would have to agree in gender (masculine, feminine) and number  (singular, plural) with the subject of the sentence, just like an Italian adjective does (bello, bella, belli, belle).

Examples:
If the subject is masculine singular the past participle (andato) doesn’t change.
Paolo è andato in Italia. – Paolo went to Italy.

If the subject is feminine singular the past participle change the final -o into an -a (andata).
Maria è andata in Italia. – Maria went to Italy.

If the subject is masculine plural the past participle will end with an -i (andati).
Paolo e Marco sono andati in Italia. – Paolo e Marco  went to Italy.

If the subject is feminine plural the final letter of the past participle will be -e (andate).
Maria e Agata sono andate in Italia. – Maria e Agata went to Italy.

NOTE: The past participle never changes when using the auxiliary avere, unless there is a direct object pronoun before the verb.

Examples:

Laura ha mangiato la torta. – Laura ate the cake.
Laura l’ha mangiata. – Laura ate it.

In the first example even if the subject is feminine you don’t have to change the past participle.

But if we use a direct object pronoun (l’) instead of la torta, like in the second example, the past participle would have to agree in gender and number with the object (la torta), which, in this case, is singular feminine.

 

Irregular Past Participles in Italian

In Italian, like in English, there are a lot of irregular past participles. This means that these past participles don’t follow the rule that we just saw to make the participio passato. In that case you can only memorize them and try to use them as much as you can until you will remember them. 

Here I listed the irregular past participles of the most common Italian verbs with examples:

Infinitive verb Past Participle  Example
aprire

 

to open

aperto

 

opened

Ho aperto la porta.

 

I opened the door.

bere

 

to drink

bevuto

 

drank

Ho bevuto troppo ieri.

 

I drank too much yesterday.

chiedere

 

to ask

chiesto

 

asked

Ho chiesto il conto.

 

I asked for the bill.

chiudere 

 

to close

chiuso

 

closed

Ho chiuso la porta.

 

I closed the door.

conoscere

 

to know; to meet for the first time 

conosciuto

 

known

Ho conosciuto Michele nel 1992.

 

I met Michele in 1992.

correre

 

to run

corso

 

run

Non ho corso ieri.

 

I didn’t run yesterday.

crescere

 

to grow

cresciuto

 

grown

è cresciuto molto!

 

He grew a lot!

cuocere

 

to cook; to bake

cotto

 

cooked

Ha cotto troppo i biscotti.

 

She overcooked the cookies.

decidere

 

to decide

deciso

 

decided

Ho deciso di andare.

 

I decided to go.

dipingere

 

to paint

dipinto

 

painted

Avete dipinto un quadro.

 

You (pl.) painted a picture.

dire

 

to say

detto

 

said

Hanno detto di sì!

 

They said yes!

essere

 

to be

stato

 

been

Sono stato in Italia.

 

I have been in Italy.

fare

 

to do, to make

fatto

 

done

Ho fatto una torta!

 

I made a cake!

leggere

 

to read

letto

 

read

Abbiamo letto un romanzo.

 

We read a novel.

mettere

 

to put

messo

 

put

Non ho messo il sale.

 

I didn’t put the salt.

morire

 

to die

morto

 

dead

Il cellulare è morto.

 

The phone died.

nascere

 

to be born

nato

 

born

sono nata in Italia.

 

I was born in Italy.

offrire

 

to offer

offerto

 

offered 

Mi ha offerto un caffè.

 

He offered a coffee to me.

perdere

 

to lose, to miss

perso

 

lost

Ho perso il treno.

 

I lost the train.

prendere

 

to take

preso

 

taken

Ho preso il treno.

 

I took the train.

ridere

 

to laugh

riso

 

laughed

Ho riso tantissimo!

 

I laughed a lot!

rimanere

 

to remain, to stay

rimasto

 

remained

Sono rimasto a casa.

 

I remained home.

rispondere

 

to answer

risposto

 

answered

Non hai risposto!

 

You didn’t answer!

rompere

 

to break

rotto

 

broken

Hai rotto un bicchiere?

 

Did you break a glass?

scegliere

 

to choose

scelto

 

chosen

Non ho scelto ancora.

 

I didn’t choose yet.

scrivere 

 

to write

scritto

 

written

Ho scritto un romanzo.

 

I wrote a novel.

succedere

 

to happen

successo

 

happened

Cosa è successo?

 

What happened?

vedere

 

to see

visto

 

seen

Ho visto una farfalla.

 

I saw a butterfly.

venire

 

to come 

venuto

 

come

è venuto a casa.

 

He came home.

vincere

 

to win 

vinto

 

won

Hanno vinto la partita.

 

They won the game.

vivere

 

to live

vissuto

 

lived

Ho vissuto in Italia.

 

I lived in Italy.

 

How to know if you have to use essere or avere?

That is a very good question and there is not a simple answer to it.  Below I tried to make it as clear as possible for you.

 

Participio passato with avere

Most Italian verbs use the auxiliary verb avere in the participio passato.

You can be sure to use avere with:

  • Transitive verbs: verbs that can have an object.
    For example the verb to eat (mangiare) or to meet (incontrare) are transitive both in English and Italian because they have an object that answers to the questions what? or who?. You can eat something or meet someone.

     

    Examples:Ho mangiato la pizza ieri.
    I ate pizza yesterday.

    Ho incontrato Michele la settimana scorsa.
    I met Michele last week.

    Ho comprato la borsa.
    I bought the bag.

    Ho guardato un bel film sabato sera.
    I watched a good movie last Saturday night.

  • Some intransitive verbs: verbs with no object.  It is not always clear when it is necessary to use essere or avere with intransitive verbs. The following are the most used intransitive verbs that require avere:
    ambire – to aspire, to aim
    approfittare di  – to take advantage of
    badare a – to look after
    bisticciare con – to bicker
    camminare – to walk
    cenare – to have dinner
    chiacchierare – to chat, to talk
    esitare – to hesitate
    litigare con – to fight, to argue
    mentire a – to lie to
    nuotare – to swim
    parlare – to talk, to speak
    pattinare – to skate
    reagire – to react
    ridere – to laugh
    rinunciare a – to renounce, to give up
    scherzare – to joke
    sciare – to ski
    smettere di – to stop, to quit
    telefonare – to call, to phone
    tossire – to cough
    viaggiare – to travel

When to use passato prossimo with essere

Essere is the auxiliary of the following intransitive verbs:

  • Most of verbs that indicate movement like:
    andare – to go
    arrivare – to arrive
    entrare – to enter, to come in
    partire – to leave
    tornare, ritornare – to come back
    uscire – to go out, to exit
    venire – to come
  • Stative verbs (verbs that indicate inactivity) like:
    stare – to stay, to be located
    restare – to stay
    rimanere – to remain
    esistere – to exist
    essere – to be
    vivere – to live
    sopravvivere – to survive
    succedere – to happen
  • Verbs indicating changes in the state of being, such as:
    cambiare – to change
    crescere – to grow
    diventare – to become
    migliorare – to improve, to get better
    morire – to die
    nascere – to be born
  • Reflexive verbs (verbs ending in -si in the infinitive form), like the following very common verbs:
    addormentarsi – to fall asleep
    alzarsi – to get up
    annoiarsi – to get bored
    arrabbiarsi – to get angry
    divertirsi – to have fun, to enjoy oneself
    farsi male – to get hurt, hurt oneself
    innamorarsi di – to fall in love with
    lamentarsi – to complain
    lavarsi – to wash oneself
    laurearsi – to graduate
    mettersi – to put clothes on
    muoversi – to move
    sedersi – to sit down
    sentirsi – to feel
    spogliarsi – to undress
    sposarsi –  to get married
    svegliarsi – to wake up
    trasferirsi – to move
    vestirsi – to get dressed

Quick overview of Passato Prossimo

Ausiliare Participio Passato  Verbi
Avere -are / -ato

 

-ere / -uto

-ire / -ito

transitive verbs

 

some intransitive verbs

Essere  -are / -ato/a/i/e

 

-ere / -uto/a/i/e

-ire / -ito/a/i/e

intransitive verbs,

 

motion verbs,

stative verbs,

changement verbs,

reflexive verbs

Conclusion

Now you can finally say in Italian what you did yesterday or sometime in the past!

Remember to change the final endings when using essere.

As we saw, the choice of the auxiliary is not always as clear for intransitive verbs. Certain verbs can even allow both essere and avere depending on the context, but I don’t want to scare you too much at this point! If you are interested in learning more on the topic check out this more detailed list: la scelta del verbo ausiliare.

If you want to check if the past participle is irregular or you want to be sure to use the right auxiliary I suggest to consult a verb conjugator online, such as .  With Reverso you can insert the infinitive form of the verb and then look for the conjugation of passato prossimo along with all the other Italian tenses.

By: Lucia Aiello

Lucia Aiello is one of the co-founders of LearnItalianGo. Born and raised in Italy, she is a passionate Italian teacher and language enthusiast.