There are several past in Italian. While the imperfetto(imperfect) and passato prossimo(perfect tense) take the lion’s share, to take your Italian to the next level, you need to learn how to use all the tenses needed to talk about the past. The main ones are:
Tense | Basic use(s) |
|---|---|
passato prossimo Mi sono sposata un anno fa. I got married one year ago. | completed actions in the past, actions that started in the past whose effects continue in the present |
imperfetto Da bambino giocavo sempre a calcio. As a child, I always played soccer. | background information, habitual/recurring actions in the past |
trapassato prossimo Quando siamo arrivati, lei era appena uscita. When we arrived, she had just left. | past actions older than other past actions (in the passato prossimo) |
passato remoto Lorenzo de’ Medici nacque nel 1449. Lorenzo de’ Medici was born in 1449. | completed actions in the past with no connections to the present |
There is also a tense called the trapassato remoto, which is used to talk about past actions older than ones in the passato remoto, and one called the passato progressivo, which can at times be used instead of the imperfetto. Oh, and someitmes you use the present tense to talk about the past.
Sounds overwhelming? No worries, we got you covered! In this post, we’ll examine all past tenses in the , either in pairs — sometimes a past tense needs a companion — or singularly. Ready for our journey through the past? Let’s go!
As anticipated, the passato prossimo and imperfetto are the most common past tenses in Italian.
Use the passato prossimo...
to talk about completed events at a specific time in the past
Ieri abbiamo cenato con Sara.
Yesterday we had dinner with Sara.
to talk about a past action whose effects continue in the present
Ho appena fatto un bagno caldo.
I just took a warm bath.
Use the imperfetto....
to talk about recurrent or habitual actions in the past
Andavamo a teatro ogni domenica.
We used to go to the theater every Sunday.
to talk about ongoing actions in the past with no specific beginning or end
Prima delle e-mail, usavamo il fax.
Before emails, we used the fax machine.
to state age, time, date, and weather in the past
Erano le 10 di sera, e faceva freddo.
It was 10 in the evening, and it was cold
to make descriptions in the past
L’appartamento era semplice e pulito.
The apartment was simple and clean.
The passato prossimo refers to events and actions that are completed in a specific moment in the past, while the imperfetto is more a descriptive tense. The two may be used together:
to talk about specific past events (passato prossimo) and the circumstances around them (imperfetto)
Era domenica mattina, faceva caldo. Mario è entrato e ha gridato: Eccomi!
It was Sunday morning, it was hot. Mario came in and shouted: Here I am!
to talk about ongoing actions (imperfetto) and interrupting actions (passato prossimo)
Mentre dormivo, il gatto è saltato sul letto e mi ha svegliato.
While I was sleeping, the cat jumped on my bed and woke me up.
When talking about ongoing actions, the passato progressivo may be used instead of the imperfetto. This tense is formed by:
imperfetto of stare + the of the verb
Our example above would become:
Mentre stavo dormendo, il gatto è saltato sul letto e mi ha svegliato.
While I was sleeping, the cat jumped on my bed and woke me up.
To learn more, have a look at our post on the gerund in Italian!
Check out these lists with time markers for the imperfetto and time markers for the passato prossimo.
The passato remoto(historical past) is used to talk about completed events with no connections to the present. The remoteness suggested by its name is both chronological and psychological. The passato remoto is generally used to narrate stories and to talk about historical events.
Dante scrisse la Divina Commedia tra il 1304 e il 1307.
Dante wrote the Divina Commedia between 1304 and 1307.
The usage of the passato remoto varies according to geographical areas. Southern Italians use the passato remoto in their everyday spoken language, and often to talk about events that occurred in the not-so-distant past. On the other hand, Northern Italians virtually never use the passato remoto (they use the passato prossimo instead) and only see it in novels and history books.
So, if you can hear someone in Sicily say Rimasi deluso dalla festa(I felt disappointed by the party), the same sentence in Trento would probably sound like Sono rimasto deluso dalla festa, whenever that party took place.
The trapassato prossimo(past perfect) is used to talk about past events that happened before other past events expressed by the passato prossimo.
Lucia ci ha raccontato come si era rotta la gamba.
Lucia told us (past) how she had broken (earlier past) her leg.
Similarly, the trapassato remoto(past anterior) is used to talk about past events that happened before other past events in the passato remoto.
Appena Stefano ebbe finito di mangiare, uscì di casa.
As soon as Stefano had finished (earlier past) eating, he left (remote past) home.
This is a tense you will hardly use — Italians hardly use it! — but you might spot it in a novel. Time expressions often associated with this tense are (non) appena(as soon as) and dopo che(after, afterward).
Our journey in the past ends with… the present tense, which is used to talk about actions started in the past and continuing in the present. The time marker to look for is da, which means both “since” and “for.”
Vivo a Milano dal 2018.
I have lived in Milan since 2018.
Studio pianoforte da dieci anni.
I have studied piano for ten years.
Check out our article on the Italian present tense to find out more about its use to talk about past facts to make them feel closer to us in time. It’s the so-called historic or narrative present:
Francesco Petrarca nasce nel 1304.
Francesco Petrarca was born in 1304.
We are at the end of our journey. We have learned that:
The highest frequency past tenses in Italian are the passato prossimo (completed actions) and imperfetto (descriptions or ongoing/recurrent actions).
You can get away without the passato remoto (completed actions in the distant past), but it’s handy to be able to recognize it since it’s often found in fiction and historical accounts.
The trapassato prossimo and trapassato remoto are used to refer to past actions/events older than other past actions/events.
When the action started in the past and continues in the present, you use the present tense.
Time to practice the Italian past tenses!
