From : Beginner Italian Level 2

Passato Prossimo Review #1 The Italian Past Tense

Speaking in the past is a very useful skill, and it does require some time to be good at it. But we are on this journey together, and you can trust I will be there the whole way!

So far you have been learning and using the Italian Present Tense. And you realized that the ​ ​ Present Tense can be used in a variety of situations: ​ - General statements - ‘Right now’ statements - Future statements

Being able to speak in the past tense, will open a ton of doors for you. And we’ll do this incrementally, so don’t worry!

In this lesson, we will actually only be looking at the various types of past tense we use in English and how they match in Italian. As it is the case of highly conceptual lessons, this is not stuff you need to learn and remember. We need to discuss it to ensure you fully digest the Italian past tense, once we introduce it!

The Past Tense in English

In English we mainly use three types of Past Tense (excluding the continuous forms, which don’t ​ ​ exist in Italian - things like ‘I’ve been waiting’). ​ ​

Present perfect ​ ​ I have seen, I have done, she has had ​ ​ ​ ​

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Simple past ​ ​ I saw, I went, I did, I bought, I said ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Pluperfect (past perfect) I had seen, I had said, I had gone

In English (not so much in North America) the Present Perfect is used to describe an action that ​ ​ ​ started and finished in the past, but that still has some relation to the present.

Today I have not had coffee yet (because Today is still ongoing) ​ ​ This year we have accomplished so much (because the year is not over yet) ​ The Simple Past is used for actions (and when we say Action we don’t actually mean ‘actions’, ​ ​ but rather ‘verbs’) that started and finished at some point in the past, and there is no relation to the current time.

Yesterday I had two coffees (Yesterday is done and dusted) ​ Last year we accomplished so much (Last year is over) ​ The Pluperfect is used to describe actions that started and finished in the past, before another ​ ​ past action. It’s basically a past in the past.

When I met Susan yesterday, I had already had coffee (when I met Susan at 5pm, the event of me having coffee, had already happened, say at 9am. In other words: I had coffee at 9am. Then at 5pm I met Susan).

When we went to Italy, we had already learned Italian (When we went to Italy in 2016, the event of us learning Italian had already taken place. In other words, we learned Italian in 2015, then we went to Italy in 2016. Both actions took place in the past, in relation to now).

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The Past Tense in Italian

In Italian we use mainly the following Past Tenses: ​ ​ Passato Prossimo Imperfetto Passato Remoto Trapassato Prossimo

As you can see, while in English we tend to use three different past tenses, in Italian we use four. This is going to create some confusion at times, as there will be some overlapping of tenses!

The Passato Prossimo This Italian past tense (the Topic for this Course!) is used to render actions that in English can be rendered with either the Simple Past or the Present Perfect. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ The Imperfetto ​ ​ This tense usually renders actions for which English uses the Simple Past. ​ ​ ​ ​ Does this sound confusing? For sure! That’s because English does not distinguish (clearly) between a ‘Perfect’ action and an ‘Imperfect’ action. Now, the Imperfetto will be the topic for our ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Intermediate courses, so we are not going to get too involved with it right now, but here’s what ‘Perfect/Imperfect’ kinda refers to. ​ ​ ​ When in English we say something like: I went to Rome

We are using the Simple Past to describe an action that started and finished in the past. This is a ​ ​ ​ ​ ‘Perfect’ verb. It made a point. It told a story! ​ When we use exactly the same tense to say something like: My car was red

This Simple Past is merely describing a quality (the color of my car) in the past. Nothing actually ​ ​ ​ ​ happened. Right? This verb is an ‘Imperfect’ verb. ​ ​

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So, Italian has a dedicated Tense to report Imperfect verbs. English doesn’t (well, not clearly, at ​ ​ least). This will be the cause of some pain in the future! Or not. We’ll see!

The Passato Remoto ​ ​ ​ ​ This is our ‘historical’ tense, used to talk about very remote facts. Things that happened a long time ago (like Christopher Columbus discovering America). It is also commonly used in the South of Italy, instead of the Passato Prossimo. You will learn this Tense as an Advanced student. ​ ​ The Passato Remoto usually renders the English Simple Past (not again!). ​ ​ ​ ​

The Trapassato Prossimo ​ ​ ​ ​ This tense usually corresponds to the English Pluperfect and doesn’t really present any major ​ ​ problems or challenges.

The structure of the Passato Prossimo

The Italian Passato Prossimo has the same structure as the English Present Perfect, that is, it ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ uses an Auxiliary Verb (also known as a ‘helping’ verb) and a Past Participle. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ I have worked. He has worked.

We see the Present Tense of the verb TO HAVE (the Auxiliary Verb in English), followed by the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ -ED form of the verb we are trying to express (TO WORK). Now, saying the “-ED form” is actually ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ NOT correct, as many verbs have Irregular Past Participles in English! More on this in future ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ lessons, don’t worry!

AUXILIARY VERB + PAST PARTICIPLE

As you probably noticed, we only conjugate the Auxiliary Verb (I have vs he has). ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ The Italian Passato Prossimo works the same way! ​ ​ ​ ​

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Ho mangiato una pizza

We have the conjugated form of the verb AVERE (our Auxiliary Verb), followed by the Past ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Participle of the verb we are trying to express, and that is MANGIARE. We will explain how Past ​ ​ ​ ​ Participles work soon! ​ Abbiamo parlato molto

Same here. We have the conjugated version of AVERE in the Present Tense (abbiamo = we ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ have), followed by the Past Participle of the verb PARLARE. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Easy enough?

Not so fast! Italian makes things a little more complex by giving us TWO options for Auxiliary ​ ​ ​ Verb: ​ ESSERE (to be) ​ ​ ​ AVERE (to have) ​ ​ ​ Again, this is not our problem now, and we’ll explain everything at the right time!

The Fundamentals

All you need to remember, for the time being, is that the Italian Passato Prossimo is the tense to ​ ​ ​ ​ use to describe actions that started and finished in the past (regardless of their relation to the present). And this is the odd part, for English speakers.

It’s like using the English Present Perfect all the time: ​ ​ This morning I have swum in the lake. * Yesterday I have swum in the lake. * Ten years ago I have swum in the lake.

It’s weird, but this is exactly what you need to do.

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Stamattina ho nuotato nel lago. Ieri ho nuotato nel lago. Dieci anni fa ho nuotato nel lago.

As for the structure, remember you always want TWO words to express a past action (one that ​ ​ started and finished in the past):

The conjugated Auxiliary Verb (AVERE for now, ESSERE once we explain it) + the Past Participle ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ of the verb we are trying to express.

Your Notes

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