Past Tense in Italian: The Ultimate Guide to the PASSATO PROSSIMO (PDF Cheat-Sheet 📚)

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The passato prossimo is the most important past tense in Italian. While it may have a few irregularities (as many things in Italian do!), it’s actually quite easy to use and incredibly handy for talking about experiences and events that have occurred recently or still influence you. In this guide, we’ll explore how to conjugate verbs in this tense, when to use it, and how it compares to the other Italian past tenses.

But first, make sure to download your free PDF cheat-sheet, which includes all the key points we’ll cover in this guide. Just enter your email below and I’ll send it to you straight away.

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Table to Contents

Here’s what we’ll cover in this guide. Click on any title to jump to each section.

• What is the Passato Prossimo in Italian?
  
• How to conjugate verbs in the Passato Prossimo in Italian
  • Passato Prossimo with the auxiliary AVERE
  • Passato Prossimo with the auxiliary ESSERE
  • Irregular past participles in Italian
  • Important notes about the past particle in Italian
  • Modal verbs in the Passato Prossimo
  • How to choose the auxiliary verb
• How to use the Passato Prossimo in Italian
• What’s the difference between Passato Prossimo and Passato Remoto?

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What is the Passato Prossimo?

The passato prossimo (present perfect) is the most commonly used tense for talking about the past in Italian. Whether you’re sharing memories, catching up with friends about your latest adventures, or gossiping about what happened last night at the piazza, this is the tense you’ll want to master.

The name gives us a hint about its usage. Passato prossimo literally translates to “near past,” therefore we use it for actions that have been completed but still feel recent or continue to have an impact in the present. This key aspect distinguishes it from the other two significant past tenses in Italian: passato remoto, which is used for events that are distant in time and emotion, and imperfetto, which describes actions that occurred repeatedly, habitually, or over an unspecified duration.

For example:

• Ieri sera ho visto Matteo al bar con una ragazza – Last night I saw Matteo at the bar with a girl. → The event is in the past, but it happened very recently, making it relevant to our current conversation.
• Non ho mai preso la patente, devo rimediare! – I’ve never gotten my driver’s license, I need to do something about it! → This sentence refers to a past action that continues to affect the present, as having no driver’s license is still relevant today.

How to conjugate the Passato Prossimo in Italian

Unlike the Passato Remoto and Imperfetto, which are simple tenses, the Passato Prossimo is a compound tense. This means it is formed using two components:

Auxiliary verb + Past Participle

The auxiliary can be either essere (to be) or avere (to have), conjugated in the present tense.

The past participle is formed by changing the ending of the verb according to its conjugation group. Here’s how it works:

• Verbs ending in -are change to -ato (e.g., mangiare → mangiato)
• Verbs ending in -ere change to -uto (e.g., vendere → venduto)
• Verbs ending in -ire change to -ito (e.g., partire → partito)

Passato Prossimo with the auxiliary AVERE

The auxiliary avere is typically used with:

• The verb avere (to have) itself
• Transitive verbs, which are those verbs that answer the questions “Who?” or “What?”

Here are some examples:

Here are some example sentences:

• Ho avuto mal di stomaco questa mattina – I had a stomach ache this morning
• Per quando hai prenotato? – When did you book it for?
• Abbiamo visto Antonio l’altro giorno; secondo noi dovresti parlargli – We saw Antonio the other day; in our opinion, you should talk to him.

Passato Prossimo with the auxiliary ESSERE

The auxiliary essere is generally used with the verb essere itself and with intransitive verbs (those that do not answer the questions “who?” or “what?”), such as:

• Verbs of movement like andare (to go), arrivare (to arrive), partire (to leave), tornare (to return), venire (to come)
• Verbs of change, which describe a transformation or a change in state, like diventare (to become), crescere (to grow), cambiare (to change), nascere (to be born)
• Verbs expressing a state, like restare (to stay), rimanere (to remain), stare (to be)
• Reflexive verbs, like svegliarsi (to wake up), vestirsi (to dress), etc.

Some examples:

Here are some example sentences:

• Il capo è stato fuori ufficio tutta la settimana – The boss has been out of the office all week.
• Siamo partiti l’altro ieri – We left the day before yesterday.
• Ti sei pettinata questa mattina? – Did you do your hair this morning?

Attenzione: Some verbs can take bothessere (to be) andavere (to have), depending on their use. When they are used transitively, they take avere; when used intransitively, they require essere. Let’s see an example with the verb cambiare (to change):

• Ho cambiato la giacca – I changed the jacket (transitive use).
• L’orario dell’appuntamento è cambiato – The time of the meeting has changed (intransitive use).

Irregular past participles in Italian

Some verbs don’t follow the usual patterns when forming their past participles. Instead of the familiar endings of -ato, -uto, or -ito, they have unique past participles that you’ll need to memorize. But don’t worry! The more you practice, the more instinctive they will start to feel.

Here’s a list of some of the most common irregular verbs you’ll encounter when forming the passato prossimo:

Important notes about the past particle in Italian

Let’s explore how to use the Italian past participle correctly in different contexts:

1. When the auxiliary is essere, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence:

• Paolo è andato alla festa (Paolo went to the party) / Sara è andata alla festa (Sara went to the party).
• I miei fratelli sono rimasti a casa (My brothers stayed at home) / Le mie sorelle sono rimaste a casa (My sisters stayed at home).

2. With the auxiliary avere, the past participle usually doesn’t not change. However, there are some exceptions to note: 

• When the auxiliary avere is preceded by a third-person direct object pronoun (lo, la, li, le – meaning him, her, it) or the particle ne, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the object.
• Ho fatto una torta e l’ho portata a Lucia – I made a cake and brought it to Lucia →  portata agrees with torta (female singular).
• Questo formaggio è buonissimo, ne ho assaggiato un pò prima – This cheese is amazing; I tasted a bit of it earlier → assaggiato agrees with cheese (masculine singular).
• When the auxiliary avere is preceded by other direct object pronouns (like mi – me, ti – you, etc.), you can choose whether to make the past participle agree with the object or not.
• Anna, ti ho chiamato mille volte, dove sei? – Anna, I called you a thousand times, where are you? → No agreement here; chiamato (called) remains unchanged.
• Anna, ti ho chiamata mille volte, dove sei? – Anna, I called you a thousand times, where are you? → Here, chiamata (called) agrees with “Anna,” who is feminine.

Modal verbs in the Passato Prossimo

 In Italian, modal verbs form the past participle by changing their ending -ere to -uto and using either the auxiliary verb essere (to be) or avere (to have):

When using the auxiliary verb essere (to be), the past participle of modal verbs agrees with the subject performing the action:

How to choose the auxiliary verb

Modal verbs can be tricky when it comes to choosing the correct auxiliary verb. Here are some guidelines:

1. When modal verbs are used on their own, without another verb following them, they take the auxiliary avere (to have):

• Abbiamo dovuto per forza – We absolutely had to.
• Ha voluto così – He/She wanted it this way.
• Non ho proprio potuto, mi dispiace! – I really couldn’t, sorry!

2. When they are followed by an infinitive verb, the auxiliary verb matches the infinitive verb, so whether it’s transitive or intransitive:

• Abbiamo dovuto anticipare il treno per evitare di arrivare in ritardo – We had to leave the train early to avoid being late → Anticipare (to anticipate/leave early) is a transitive verb, so it requires avere.
• Non ho potuto avvisarti prima – I couldn’t warn you earlier → Avvisare (to warn) is also transitive, so we use avere here as well.
• Non è voluto venire al cinema con noi – He didn’t want to come with us → Venire (to come) is an intransitive verb, so it takes essere.

3. When a modal verb is followed by the verb essere (to be), the auxiliary verb will be avere:

• Ho voluto essere sincera fin dall’inizio – I wanted to be honest from the start.
• Hai dovuto essere molto paziente con me – You had to be very patient with me.
• Marco non ha potuto essere qui con noi oggi – Marco couldn’t be here with us today.

4. When modal verbs are used with reflexive verbs, the auxiliary verb can change depending on the position of the reflexive pronoun:

• If the reflexive pronoun comes before the verb, the auxiliary is essere, as in Mi sono dovuto alzare presto (I had to get up early).
• If the reflexive pronoun comes after the verb, the auxiliary is avere, as in Ho dovuto alzarmi presto (I had to get up early).

How to use the Passato Prossimo in Italian

After learning how to conjugate verbs in the passato prossimo, let’s see how this tense is applied in Italian. Also, don’t miss my guide which explains when to use Passato Prossimo and Imperfetto.

1. To talk about actions that happened recently. This usage often includes time markers like recentemente (recently), un’ora fa (one hour ago), il mese scorso (last month), etc.

• Sono andata a letto subito dopo cena – I went to bed right after dinner.
• Ho parlato con Chiara giusto un’ora fa – I spoke with Chiara just an hour ago.

2. To describe actions that have taken place within a period that is still ongoing:

• Quest’estate siamo stati in Sicilia – This summer, we went to Sicily.
• Non ho toccato dolci questa settimana! – I haven’t touched any sweets this week!

3. To indicate actions that originated in the past but continue to have relevance in the present:

• Ho sempre avuto paura dei ragni – I have always been afraid of spiders. → This fear originated in the past and continues today.
• Abbiamo iniziato a ballare il tango un paio di anni fa – We started dancing the tango a couple of years ago. → It’s likely that the speakers are still actively dancing tango today.

4. To talk about experiences:

• Avete fatto anche voi l’Erasmus in Spagna? – Have you also done Erasmus in Spain?
• Non siamo mai andati in Calabria – We have never been to Calabria.

5. To talk about actions that happened multiple times in the past.

• Ho letto quel libro almeno 10 volte! – I have read that book at least 10 times!
• Sono stato agli Uffizi diverse volte, che magia! – I have been to the Uffizi several times, so magic!

6. To indicate a completed event in the future, typically in casual conversations:

• Domani, quando ho finito di studiare, vado in piscina – Tomorrow, when I finish studying, I’m going to the pool.
• L’anno prossimo, quando hai finito gli esami, ti porto a Eurodisney! – Next year, when you finish your exams, I’ll take you to Eurodisney!

What’s the difference between Passato Prossimo and Passato Remoto?

When it comes to choosing between passato remoto and passato prossimo in Italian, what really matters is not just the timing of the event, but also its relevance to the present. Let’s clarify this concept with an example:

• Da giovane vissi due anni a Firenze – When I was young, I lived in Florence for two years → In this sentence, the passato remoto (vissi – I lived) is used to talk about an event that likely occurred a long time ago and with no influence on the present moment, making it feel more distant and historical.
• Da giovane ho vissuto due anni a Firenze – When I was young, I lived in Florence for two years → Here, the passato prossimo (ho vissuto – I lived) suggests that the experience is still relevant to us, perhaps because we improved our Italian during those years and that might still benefit us in the job.

By the way, if you’re thinking of moving to the Tuscan capital for a while, check out my guide to the best things to do in Florence and the mistakes to avoid!

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