Passato Prossimo - Italian Grammar - Grammatica Italiana

Passato Prossimo

The Passato Prossimo is used to describe the past. The events it describes are punctual, actions which are in the foreground and interrupt other actions in the background. Talking about the Passato Prossimo, the term chain of action is applied, as several events happen one after the other.

Examples:

	Italian	English
Declarative Sentence	Ha lavorato.	He has worked.
Negative Declarative Sentence	Non ha lavorato.	He has not worked.
Question	Ha lavorato?	Has he worked?

How to form the Passato Prossimo:

The Passato Prossimo consists of two parts:
- Auxiliary verb - avere / essere (to have / to be)
- Paricipio Passato (Past Participle)

Usage of the auxiliary verb:
- essere: with verbs of movement and non-movement
- avere: with all other verbs

Forms of the auxiliary verbs:

avere - to have

Italian	English
ho	I have
hai	you have
ha	he / she / it has
abbiamo	we have
avete	you have
hanno	they have

essere - to be

Italian	English
sono	I am
sei	you are
è	he / she / it is
siamo	we are
siete	you are
sono	they are

The Participio Passato (past participle) is the second part of the Passato Prossimo.

List of some important verbs which form the Passato Prossimo with “essere” (to be):

Infinitive	Participio Passato	English
andare	andato	to go
arrivare	arrivato	to arrive
cadere	caduto	to fall
diventare	diventato	to become
entrare	entrato	to enter
morire	morto	to die
nascere	nato	to be born
partire	partito	to leave
restare	restato	to stay
rimanere	rimasto	to stay
salire	salito	to get on (the train)
scendre	sceso	to get out, to exit
stare	stato	to stand, to stay
tornare	tornato	to return
uscire	uscito	to go out
venire	venuto	to come

Reflexive Verbs with Passato Prossimo

Reflexive Verbs always form the Passato Prossimo with the auxiliary verb “essere”.

Example:
Mi sono alzato, non mi sono lavato.

When is the Participio Passato adjusted?

There is NO adjustment of the Participio Passato if:
- there is the auxiliary verb “avere“ > ha ascoltato

There is an adjustment of the Participio Passato if:

-o > male, singular	-a > female, singular
-i > male, plural	-e > female, plural

- the auxiliary verb “essere” is used > è salita
- with reflexive verbs > si è alzata
- with complements (direct object) > l’ha vista

Examples:

A verb which forms the Passato Prossimo with “avere - to have”: mangiare

Italian	English
ho mangiato	I have eaten
hai mangiato	you have eaten
ha mangiato	he / she / it has eaten
abbiamo mangiato	we have eaten
avete mangiato	you have eaten
hanno mangiato	they have eaten

A verb which forms the Passato Prossimo with “essere - to be”: andare

Italian	English
sono andato / a	I have gone
sei andato / a	you have gone
è andato / o	he / she / it has gone
siamo andati / e	we have gone
siete andati / e	you have gone
sono andati / e	they have gone

Usage:

Italian	English	Usage
Ieri ho incontrato i miei amici.	Yesterday I met my friends.	Events in the past which happened a short time before.
Ho visto questo film.	I saw this film.	Past events
Mi sono alzato, poi ho mangiato e finalement sono andato al lavoro.	I got up, then I ate and in the end I went to work.	Chains of evnts in the past
Stavo mangiando / mangiavo quando sei arrivato (tu).	I was eating when you arrived.	Situations in the past which are being interrupted

Further examples:

Italian	English
Prima ho mangiato tante cose zuccherate, oggi non lo faccio più.	Before I ate a lot of sweet things, today I don’t do that anymore.
Dove l’hai visto?	Where have you seen him?
Ha incontrato questa ragazza al supermercato.	He met the girl in the supermarket.
È nato nel 1901 ed è morto nel 1998.	He was born in 1901 and died in 1998.

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