When to use the auxiliary verb ‘avere’ vs. ‘essere’ in Italian compound tenses?

The auxiliary avere is always used with transitive verbs, which are verbs that have a direct object. This means that someone does the action in the verb to something or someone else. Importantly, a direct object is never introduced by a preposition.

One good way to figure out if a verb has a direct object is to ask “verbed what?” or “verbed who?” If you can answer these questions, the answer will probably be the direct object. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

• Let’s say we want to say “My mom has bought a present.” We can ask ourselves:

  “My mom bought what?” → “the present”

  “The present” is therefore the direct object of the verb comprare (meaning to buy). Because you can answer the question, you know that comprare is transitive and so takes the auxiliary avere. So the sentence in passato prossimo would be:

  subjectpassato prossimodirect object

  Mia mamma ha comprato un regalo.

  Translation: My mom has bought a present.

• Let’s look at another example. Let’s say you want to say “I met Lucia.” You can ask yourself:

  “I met who?” → “Lucia”

  Therefore, Lucia is the direct object and the verb, incontrare (meaning to meet) is transitive so takes avere.

  subjectpassato prossimodirect object

  Io ho incontrato Lucia.

  Translation: I have met Lucia.

So far, so good. But what if the main verb cannot be followed by a direct object, or an answer to “verbed what?” or “verbed who?”

We use essere only with intransitive verbs – verbs that cannot be followed by a direct object. However, as you’ll see, we don’t use essere for all intransitive verbs!

Intransitive verbs fall into a few different categories, and there are slightly different rules for each. Let’s have a look at them one-by-one:

• Intransitive verbs that indicate an action experienced by the subject

  If an intransitive verbs indicates an action experienced by the subject, you’ll always use it with essere. For example:

  Sono nato.

  Translation: I was born.

  Sono cresciuto.

  Translation: I have grown up.

• Reflexive verbs

  Reflexive verbs, where the action is performed by and reflects back to the subject, also use the auxiliary essere.

  Mi sono preparato per uscire.

  Translation: I got ready to go out.

• Impersonal verbs

  Essere is also used as an auxiliary with impersonal verbs, where there is no subject, or the subject is something that doesn’t do anything.

  Questa cosa è appena successa.

  Translation: This thing has just happened.

• Intransitive verbs of movement and status answering “where?”

  Finally, intransitive verbs of movement and status are used with essere. To identify these, you can ask yourself, “verbed where?”.

  Io sono andato a scuola ieri.

  Translation: I went to school yesterday.

  I went where? → to school

  Tu sei rimasto a casa tutto il giorno.

  Translation: You stayed at home all day long.

  You stayed where? → at home

Avere and essere can sometimes both be used with the same verb. The one you use will depend on the meaning and context in which you’re using the verb. If it has a direct object, you’ll use avere, if it doesn’t you’ll use essere. Here’s an example:

• Oggi Anna ha passato tutta la mattina a casa.

  Translation: Today Anna has spent all morning at home.
• Oggi Anna è passata all’ufficio postale.

  Translation: Today Anna passed by the post office.

Can you see the difference?

In the first sentence, we might ask: “Anna spent what?” and the answer would be “all morning.” Therefore, in the first sentence passare is transitive. That’s why we used avere.

In the second sentence, though, we would need to ask: “Anna passed (by) where?” → “the post office.” This makes passare a movement verb and intransitive! That’s why we used essere in this sentence instead!

Interested in more examples? Have a look at this table of verbs that can take both avere and essere, for more examples!

Now that you know how to use the auxiliaries, you might be wondering how to use the passato prossimo in Italian? Well, we have an article for that too, go check it out!