Italian has two main tenses for talking about the past in conversation: the passato prossimo and the imperfetto. English speakers often try to map them onto simple past and past progressive, which works some of the time and fails the rest. A more useful question is this: am I reporting a completed event, or am I describing the background, a habit, or something in progress?
Forming the two tenses
The passato prossimo uses the present of avere or essere plus the past participle. Regular participles end in -ato, -uto, or -ito: mangiato, venduto, dormito. Common irregular ones include fatto, detto, visto, preso, scritto, and aperto. Verbs of movement and change of state take essere, and the participle agrees with the subject: Maria è andata, i ragazzi sono arrivati.
The imperfetto is built from the infinitive stem with -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano for -are verbs, with -evo for -ere verbs, and with -ivo for -ire verbs. Essere is irregular (ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano), as are fare (facevo), dire (dicevo), and bere (bevevo).
Use the passato prossimo for completed events
Choose the passato prossimo when the action is finished and you treat it as a single event or a step in a sequence. Ieri ho mangiato la pizza. Alle otto sono uscito di casa, poi ho preso il treno. Words that often go with it are ieri, una volta, all'improvviso, and un'ora fa.
The passato prossimo also reports a result that still matters now: Ho perso le chiavi implies that you still do not have them. And it can cover a long but closed period: Ho abitato a Roma per dieci anni tells the listener that this period is over.
Use the imperfetto for background and habit
Choose the imperfetto for repeated habits, descriptions, and actions in progress without a stated endpoint. Da bambino mangiavo la pizza ogni sabato. Faceva freddo e pioveva. Ero stanco. It is also the tense for age and time in the past: Avevo dieci anni. Erano le tre. The imperfetto also softens polite requests: Volevo un caffè, per favore. Words that often go with it are di solito, spesso, ogni giorno, sempre, and mentre.
Treat these time words as hints, not rules. Sempre can appear with the passato prossimo when the period is bounded, and the sentence meaning always has the last word.
Using both in one sentence
Stories usually combine the two. The imperfetto sets the scene, and the passato prossimo moves the plot. Mentre studiavo, è arrivato Luca. Era una bella giornata, così siamo andati al mare. The longer, ongoing action takes the imperfetto, and the interrupting event takes the passato prossimo. A clause with quando often joins the two: Quando sono arrivato, pioveva. A short narration shows the rhythm: Ieri mattina pioveva, così ho preso l'ombrello e sono uscito. Quando sono arrivato in ufficio, i colleghi stavano già lavorando.
Verbs whose meaning shifts
A few verbs change meaning with the tense. Ho conosciuto Marco ieri means I met Marco yesterday, while Conoscevo Marco means I knew Marco. Ho saputo la notizia means I found out the news, while Sapevo la notizia means I already knew it. Pairing each verb with a short model sentence is a good way to keep both meanings in memory. The modal verbs behave similarly. Ho dovuto partire says that you had to leave and did, while Dovevo partire leaves the outcome open. Ho voluto restare suggests that you insisted and stayed, while Volevo restare only reports the wish.
Essere or avere, and common mistakes
Nearly all transitive verbs take avere: ho mangiato, ho studiato, abbiamo capito. Essere is used with verbs of movement and change (andare, venire, partire, arrivare, uscire, nascere, diventare), with reflexive verbs (mi sono alzato), and with essere itself (sono stato). With essere the participle agrees with the subject: Anna è partita, noi ci siamo divertiti. With avere the participle does not agree with the subject, but it does agree with a direct object pronoun placed before the verb: Ho comprato le mele becomes Le ho comprate.
Typical mistakes follow a pattern. Learners use the imperfetto for a single completed event (Ieri mangiavo la pizza sounds like background to something else), forget the agreement with essere, or translate English used to and would with the wrong tense. Both used to and would for habits point to the imperfetto.
A quick test can help. If you can add and then after the clause, it is probably a passato prossimo event: Mi sono alzato (and then) ho fatto colazione. If you can add at that time, it is probably an imperfetto description: Pioveva (at that time).
You will also meet the passato remoto (mangiai, andò) in novels and in some regions. For speaking, start with the passato prossimo and the imperfetto, and add the passato remoto as a reading skill when you begin longer texts.
Practice set
Choose or form the correct past tense.
- Da piccola, io (giocare) sempre in giardino.
- Ieri sera noi (andare) al cinema.
- Mentre io (cucinare), il telefono (squillare).
- Quando mio nonno (essere) giovane, (vivere) a Napoli.
- Say "Yesterday I found out the news." (sapere)
Show the answers
- giocavo. A repeated childhood habit takes the imperfetto.
- siamo andati (or siamo andate). A completed event with essere and agreement.
- cucinavo ... ha squillato (or è squillato). The ongoing action is imperfetto and the interruption is passato prossimo.
- era ... viveva. Both describe a past situation without an endpoint.
- Ieri ho saputo la notizia. Finding out is a completed event.