At a glance
- Formation: essere or avere in the present tense + past participle
- Regular endings: -ato (-are), -uto (-ere), -ito (-ire)
- With essere: the past participle agrees with the subject
- Pronominal verbs: always use essere
- Common pitfall: some verbs use a different auxiliary than in English
The Italian present perfect tense, called passato prossimo, is built on the same principle as in English: a present-tense auxiliary followed by a past participle. The logic diverges, however, in the choice of auxiliary, which does not always match the one used in English for the same verb.
Regular formation: essere or avere + past participle
The past participle of regular verbs is built from the stem of the infinitive.
| Group | Ending | Example | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| -are | -ato | comprare | comprato |
| -ere | -uto | vendere | venduto |
| -ire | -ito | dormire | dormito |
Ho comprato il pane stamattina.
I bought the bread this morning.
Choosing between avere and essere
The majority of verbs are conjugated with avere. Essere is used for a more restricted family: verbs of movement, change of state, and intransitive verbs that describe a situation experienced by the subject.
| Auxiliary | Verbs concerned | Example |
|---|---|---|
| avere | The majority of transitive verbs | Ho comprato il pane stamattina. |
| essere | Movement, change of state (andare, partire, arrivare, nascere, restare…) | Siamo arrivati tardi alla festa. |
The Italian-English pitfall: auxiliaries that change
Some verbs take essere in Italian while their English equivalent is constructed with have, and vice versa. This mismatch remains the main source of errors for English speakers.
È guarito velocemente dopo l’operazione.
He recovered quickly after the operation.
Guarire (to recover, to heal) takes essere in Italian, whereas English systematically uses have for this same verb. This type of mismatch cannot be guessed: it is learned verb by verb, often alongside the conjugation of the verb essere in Italian, essential for recognizing these forms in the present perfect.
Pronominal verbs, always with essere
Alzarsi, svegliarsi, vestirsi and all reflexive or reciprocal verbs are conjugated exclusively with essere, even when their meaning does not imply any movement.
Ci siamo svegliati presto per non perdere il treno.
We woke up early so as not to miss the train.
Past participle agreement
With essere, the participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject. With avere, it remains invariable, except when a direct object pronoun (lo, la, li, le, ne) precedes the verb.
| Case | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Essere, mandatory agreement | Le mie sorelle sono partite ieri. | My sisters left yesterday. |
| Avere, no agreement | Abbiamo visto un bel film. | We saw a good film. |
| Avere + direct object pronoun, agreement | Le chiavi? Le ho perse ieri. | The keys? I lost them yesterday. |
Irregular past participles
A dozen very frequent verbs have a past participle that does not follow any of the three regular endings.
| Infinitive | Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| fare | fatto | Ho fatto colazione presto. |
| dire | detto | Non ha detto niente. |
| vedere | visto | Abbiamo visto un bel film. |
| leggere | letto | Ho letto due libri questo mese. |
| scrivere | scritto | Hai scritto una lettera bellissima. |
| aprire | aperto | Chi ha aperto la finestra? |
| chiudere | chiuso | Il negozio ha chiuso presto. |
| prendere | preso | Ho preso l’autobus delle otto. |
| mettere | messo | Dove hai messo le chiavi? |
| nascere | nato | È nato a marzo. |
| morire | morto | Il gatto dei vicini è morto l’anno scorso. |
| rimanere | rimasto | Siamo rimasti a casa tutto il weekend. |
Using the present perfect: when and with which markers
The passato prossimo describes a one-off, completed action, often recent. Certain adverbs and time expressions naturally accompany it.
| Expression | Translation |
|---|---|
| Ieri, stamattina | Yesterday, this morning |
| La settimana scorsa | Last week |
| Un’ora fa, poco fa | An hour ago, a short while ago |
| Già, non ancora | Already, not yet |
For a habitual action or a description without a precise time limit, Italian favors the imperfect tense. For a literary or historical narrative, a third tense comes into play: the past historic in Italian, reserved for writing and more distant events.
Practical exercise
Test your knowledge:
Question 1: What is the regular past participle of “comprare”?
Question 2: Which auxiliary is used for “arrivare” (to arrive)?
Question 3: How do you agree the past participle with essere for a feminine plural subject?
Question 4: What is the irregular past participle of “fare”?
Question 5: A pronominal verb like “svegliarsi” is conjugated with:
Question 6: “Le chiavi? Le ho ___ ieri.” (to lose) Which form?
Your score
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