In Italian, we use the passato prossimo to tell stories and share memories, as you might do using the English simple past (“I ate”) or present perfect (“I have eaten”). The passato prossimo is a compound tense in Italian, and we specifically use it for:
a finished action in the recent past, often concluded in a precise time frame.
Ieri ho parlato con Marco.Translation: Yesterday, I talked with Marco.a past event whose effects continue in the present.
Ho appena finito il libro.Translation: I just finished the book.
In this post we’ll take you through everything you’ll need to know about the passato prossimo, including when to use it, how and when to form it using essere meaning to be and avere meaning to have. The passato prossimo is considered the most frequently used past tense in Italian, so let’s find out why!
What is ‘passato prossimo’ and how is it used?
The passato prossimo is a tense in Italian used to talk about the past. In Italian, there are different ways to talk about past events:
we use the imperfetto when talking about recurring or ongoing events in the past
we use the passato prossimo when talking about events that are concluded
We can see the use of the passato prossimo in these two examples:
These two examples, sono tornato meaning I came back / I’ve come back, and ho mangiato meaning I ate / I’ve eaten, represent actions that happened at a certain moment in the near past, and are considered finished, completely concluded so we use the passato prossimo.
The passato prossimo is also used to express a past action whose effects continue in the present, as long as the action itself is finished at some particular moment:
But remember:
If an action is ongoing or recurring in the past, use the imperfetto meaning imperfect.
If an action happened a long time ago, you could use the passato remoto meaning remote past.
You’ll only use the passato prossimo if the action is recently finished (and completed) and/or its effects are evident in the present.
How to form the ‘passato prossimo’?
To form this tense you’ll either use essere meaning to be or avere meaning to have, and the one you use will depend on the verb you’re using. It’s called a “compound tense” because it combines two pieces: an auxiliary verb (avere/essere) and the main verb (the past participle).
Picture two paths: one with essere and one with avere! We’ll talk later on about how to choose which path you’ll follow for a given verb, but for now, let’s talk about how to follow each of these paths!
Path 1: How to form the ‘passato prossimo’ with ‘essere’?
To form the passato prossimo with essere, you’ll combine the present tense of essere with the past participle.
past participle
Let’s begin by learning the forms of the verb essere meaning to be in the presente meaning present:
io sono | noi siamo |
tu sei | voi siete |
lui/lei/Lei è | loro sono |
Now, let’s go over how to form and use past participles with the verb essere.
Regular past participles translate to English words with this structure: verb-ed. In Italian, are formed in Italian by dropping the endings -are, -ere, and -ire from the infinitive form of the verb, and changing them according to the chart below:
-are -ato | arrivare Translation: to arrive = arrivato Translation: arrived |
-ere -uto | credere Translation: to believe = creduto Translation: believed |
-ire -ito | pulire Translation: to clean = pulito Translation: cleaned |
In Italian, there are some past participles that are irregular. To learn about these check out the table of the most common Italian irregular past participles, or have a look at this table for tips on how to form the irregular past participle in Italian!
Now that we know how to conjugate essere in the present and how to use the past participles, let’s see how to form the passato prossimo with an example!
Let’s say we want to say “I came back two days ago.”
The verb for “to come back” in Italian is tornare. In compound tenses like passato prossimo this takes essere meaning to be.
First we ask, who is the subject? → “I” = io
Now we pick the form of essere in the present tense → io sono
Now we find the past participle of tornare → tornato…and make it feminine singular (like the subject!) → tornata
Put it all together, and we get…
Sono tornata da due giorni.Translation: I came back two days ago.
Path 2: How to form the ‘passato prossimo’ with ‘avere’?
To form the passato prossimo with avere meaning have, combine the present tense of avere with the past participle.
past participle
Let’s go over the conjugation of avere in the presente meaning present:
io ho | noi abbiamo |
tu hai | voi avete |
lui/lei/Lei ha | loro hanno |
Now, let’s put it together with the past participle (which we covered above!) to form the passato prossimo. Luckily, with the verb avere, the past participle doesn’t usually change forms! In most cases you’ll just use the -o ending, though there is an exception which we’ll talk about below.
For now, let’s look at an example. Let’s say you want to say “I ate a fantastic pizza” in Italian.
The verb “eat” is mangiare in Italian, a verb that is formed with avere meaning to have
We ask ourselves, who is the subject? → “I” = io
Choose the correct form of avere in the present → Io ho
Form the past participle of mangiare: mangiato
Put it together and we get…
Ho mangiato una pizza favolosa!Translation: I ate a fantastic pizza!
In this example, ho is the present of avere meaning to have with the past participle, mangiato, of mangiare meaning to eat.
How to tell if a verb uses ‘essere’ or ‘avere’ in the ‘passato prossimo’?
In the passato prossimo, the vast majority of verbs take avere and only a few take essere. However, these few verbs happen to have the most frequently used verbs, so it feels like we are always using essere!
Luckily, there are some general rules you can use to identify verbs that will probably take essere. For example:
reflexive verbs like lavarsi meaning to wash oneself, mettersi meaning to put on, etc.
reciprocal verbs like sposarsi meaning to get married, baciarsi meaning to kiss each other, and incontrarsi meaning to meet each other
verbs indicating a change in state such as nascere meaning to be born, a state such as essere meaning to be, or a change in direction such as andare/venire meaning to go/to come.
All other verbs take avere! Easy-peasy, right?
Interested in more detail and some more examples and advice? Check out our post on using auxiliaries essere and avere in Italian compound tenses! The rules are the same for all of them!
Summing up
The passato prossimo is the most frequently used past tense in modern Italian, and now you can confidently converse with your friends about finished/completed events. All you have to do is:
Use two words: the present tense of the auxiliary (essere/avere) + the past participle.
Check if the verb takes essere or avere and use them in the present tense.
Remember that the past participle matches in gender (feminine/masculine) and number (sing/plural) if the verbs follow the present of essere + past participle “path.”
Ready to follow the paths to success? Have fun with these activities!
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