Passato ProssimoThe Italian Past Tense

Quando si usa? When does one use it?

• Right after an action is finished (similar to English present perfect)• Ho appena mangiato una pizza. (I have just eaten a pizza)

• Past action, usually with a specific time period• Ieri sono andata al negozio. (Yesterday I went to the store.)

Come si fa? How do you form it?

• It is as compound tense (tempo compost) so it needs TWO WORDS.• The auxillery essere or avere conjugated in the present tense +

the past participle.

• How do I know which one takes essere and which one takes avere?• Essere verbs are usually instransitive and does not take a direct

object

• Avere verbs are usually transitive and takes a direct object

Oggetto Diretto

• How do I know if it takes a direct object?• Can you answer the question, what? Or cosa? If you can chances are it takes

avere.

• Ho mangiato un panino. (I ate a sandwhich)• Che cosa ho mangiato? Un panino panino is the direct object

(l’oggetto diretto)

• Another question to ask if you are still unsure, is can you do this verb to something or someone else? If the answer is yes, then is it probably takes avere.

Essere Verbs

• One question you can ask to determine if the verb takes essere is if you can do the action with your whole body?• If the answer is yes, then it probably takes essere.

• Examples: andare, venire, arrivare, tornare, stare, essere, rimanere,

uscire, cadere, diventare

• All reflexive verbs take essere in the passato prossimo

Forming the past participle

When you form the past participle, you drop the –are, -ere, -ire, and add –ato, -uto and –ito respectively.

mangiare mangiato

ricevere ricevuto

dormire dormito

***REMEMBER THAT PAST PARTIPLES BY THEMSELVES ARE NOT VERBS. THEY ACT AS ADJECTIVES.

PASSATO PROSSIMO

• Once again the past tense in Italian contains WORDS

• Ho mangiato I ate, I have eaten

• Hai dormito You slept, You have slept.

Passato Prossimo – essere verbs

• Another note –• When verbs take essere, they past participle must match the

subject in number and gender.

• La ragazza e’ andata al negozio. (notice that the past particple is andata because the subject is feminine singular.

• Le ragazze sono andate al negozio. (subject is feminine plural)

• I ragazzi sono andati al negozio. (subject is plural masculine)

• Il ragazzo e’ andato al negozio. (subject is singular masculine)

Toccate Voi!

1. How do I know which verbs take essere and which verbs take avere (for the most part)?

2. What happens to the past participle of essere verbs?

3. How many words are in the Italian past tense?

4. How do you form the past participle for each type of verb (-are, -ere, -ire)?

5. What is the passato prossimo?

6. What is the passato prossimo consist of?

7. What part of the past participle is conjugated to the subject? In what tense is it conjugated?

Toccate Voi

• Change these present tense sentences to the past tense.

1. Marco va al negozio.

2. Marco ed io compriamo mele, uva e acqua.

3. Marco e Sergio si svegliano tardi.

4. Io mangio una pizza.

5. Le ragazze tornano a casa presto.