Learn Italian - Lesson Eight

Lesson Eight - Italian Past Tense, Imperfetto, Perfect, and Remote Past

The most common way of expressing the past tense in Italian is with the "passato prossimo" (present perfect), composed of an auxiliary verb (avere or essere) and the past participle. It is the verb tense most commonly used when referring to the past in spoken Italian. The following are perfectly correct and used expressions using the "passato prossimo":

Ieri ho mangiato una bistecca con patate (Literally: Yesterday I have eaten a steak with potatoes)

La settimana scorsa siamo andati in spiaggia (Literally: Last week we have gone to the beach)

Dove siete stati tutta la notte? (Literally: Where have you been all night?)

Cosa hai fatto questo pomeriggio? (Literally: What have you done this afternoon?)

However, there are other two tenses used to express actions which took place in the past: the "imperfetto" and the "passato remoto".

Imperfetto

The "imperfetto" is typically used to express:

- Continuous or habitual actions in the past: "Quando ero in Italia andavo al ristorante tutti i venerdì" (When I was in Italy I went to the restaurant every Friday). If the action is not habitual in the past, we would use the past perfect: "Quando sono stato in Italia l'anno scorso, sono andato al ristorante tre volte" (When I have gone to Italy last year, I have been to the restaurant three times)

- Descriptions in the past: "Negli anni '50 Venezia aveva una popolazione di 150.000 abitanti" (In the '50s Venice had a population of 150,000 inhabitants).

- Physical, mental or emotional state in the past: "Da bambino avevo paura del buio" (When I was a child I was afraid of the dark).

The "imperfetto" is quite regular and is built by stripping the infinite of the verb of the suffix -re and adding the "imperfetto" suffixes, as follows:

Mangiare	Avere	Finire
Mangia-vo	Ave-vo	Fini-vo
Mangia-vi	Ave-vi	Fini-vi
Mangia-va	Ave-va	Fini-va
Mangia-vamo	Ave-vamo	Fini-vamo
Mangia-vate	Ave-vate	Fini-vate
Mangia-vano	Ave-vano	Fini-vano

The verb "essere" is irregular and needs to be learnt by heart:

Essere

Ero

Eri

Era

Eravamo

Eravate

Erano

Passato Remoto

The "passato remoto" is used to express events or actions in a distant past, for which there is a perceived "remoteness" and no perceived connection with the present. It is rarely used in spoken Italian, while it is very common in written form, especially in newspapers, novels and essays. In some Italian regions, such as Tuscany and most of southern Italy, it is used also in normal conversation, substituting the past perfect.

The regular verbs are conjugated as follows:

Mangiare	Ricevere	Finire
Mangi-ai	Ricev-ei	Fin-ii
Mangi-asti	Ricev-esti	Fin-isti
Mangi-ò	Ricev-è	Fin-ì
Mangi-ammo	Ricev-emmo	Fin-immo
Mangi-aste	Ricev-este	Fin-iste
Mangi-arono	Ricev-erono	Fin-irono

Many of the verbs ending in -ere also have alternative forms that are acceptable:

Ricevere

Ricev-etti

Ricev-esti

Ricev-ette

Ricev-emmo

Ricev-este

Ricev-ettero

The auxiliary verbs "essere" and "avere" are irregular:

Essere	Avere
Fui	Ebbi
Fosti	Avesti
Fu	Ebbe
Fummo	Avemmo
Foste	Aveste
Furono	Ebbero

Many other verbs are irregular in the "passato remoto":

Vincere	Piangere	Ridere	Scegliere	Volere	Bere
Vinsi	Piansi	Risi	Scelsi	Volli	Bevvi
Vincesti	Piangesti	Ridesti	Scegliesti	Volesti	Bevesti
Vinse	Pianse	Rise	Scelse	Volle	Bevve
Vincemmo	Piangemmo	Ridemmo	Scegliemmo	Volemmo	Bevemmo
Vinceste	Piangeste	Rideste	Sceglieste	Voleste	Beveste
Vinsero	Piansero	Risero	Scelsero	Vollero	Bevvero

ITALIAN PROVERBS AND IDIOMS - PART 1

As many other languages, Italian is abundant in idioms and proverbs which would not make any sense in English if translated literally. Here are some of those most common and most likely to be heard in a normal conversation:

A chi lo dici!	Tell me that!
A tutti i costi	At any cost - No matter what
Affare fatto	It's a deal
Alla buon'ora!	It was about time
Altro che!	Of course; you can bet your life!
Bell'affare!	That's really good! (ironic)
Bella roba!	Very nice (ironic)
Pigliar due piccioni con una fava	Get two birds with one stone
Sbagliando s'impara	Practice makes perfect
Chi dorme non piglia pesci	The early bird catches the worm
Tutto è bene quel che finisce bene	All’s well that ends well
La fortuna aiuta gli audaci	Fortune favours the brave
La necessità aguzza l’ingegno	Necessity is the mother of invention

AN ESSENTIAL DICTIONARY OF ITALIAN - PART 1

To have a functional use of a language and be able to use it in everyday situation you need to know around 1000 words. This number is considered to represent about 85% of all conversations, so it is a good idea to learn them.

Tips: this is one of many exercises that can help in learning new words:

- Write the words on blank business card: the Italian word on one side and the English translation on the other.

- Pick a small number of cards, according to the time available every day for this exercise (perhaps 10 or 20 is a good quantity)

- Try to memorize the Italian words.

- After a few minutes pick up the same cards and look at the English side.

- Try to remember the Italian translation. Put aside all cards you remember correctly.

- Put back into the main deck the cards you don't remember.

- The following day pick the same number of cards from the main deck. They will contain some of the cards you didn't remember the previous day and some new cards.

- Repeat the procedure every day.

- Once a week go through the cards you remembered. If you have forgotten some, put them back into the main deck, so you can try to memorize them again.

You can adjust the number of cards you try to remember according to your memory, time available each day for the exercise, and speed at which you want to learn the essential vocabulary!

a	To
abbandonare	To abandon
abbastanza	Enough
abitare	To live, to inhabit
abito (substantive)	Dress, clothing
accadere	To happen
accanto	Near
accendere	To turn on, to ignite
accettare	To accept
accogliere	To welcome
accompagnare	To accompany
accordo	Agreement (note: the expression "D'accordo" means "Agreed", "Ok", "I agree")
accorgersi	To notice
acqua	Water
addirittura	Even
adesso	Now
affare	Business
affatto	Not at all
affermare	To affirm, to state
affrontare	To face
aggiungere	To add
aiutare	To help
aiuto	Help
albergo	Hotel
albero	Tree
allontanare	To send away, to distance oneself
allora	Then, so
almeno	At least
alto	Tall
altro	Other
alzare	To lift, to rise
amare	To love
ambiente	Environment
americano	American
amico	Friend
ammazzare	To kill
Ammettere	To admit
amore	Love
ampio	Wide, large
anche	Also
ancora	Again, yet, still
andare	To go
angolo	Corner
anima	Soul
animale	Animal
anno	Year
annunciare	To announce
antico	Ancient, antique
anzi	On the contrary
apparire	To appear
appartenere	To belong
appena	Just, as soon as
appoggiare	To lean
appunto	Indeed
aprire	To open
argomento	Subject, topic
aria	Air
arma	Weapon
armare	To arm
arrestare	To arrest, to stop
arrivare	To arrive
arte	Art
articolo	Article
ascoltare	To listen
aspettare	To wait
aspetto	Appearance
assai	Very much
assicurare	To assure, to ensure, to insure
assistere	To assist
assoluto	Absolute
assumere	To assume, to hire
attaccare	To attack
atteggiamento	Attitude
attendere	To wait
attento	Careful
attenzione	Attention
attesa	Wait
attimo	Moment
attività	Activity
atto	Act
attore	Actor
attorno	Around
attraversare	To cross
attuale	Current
aumentare	To increase
automobile	Automobile, car
autore	Author
autorità	Authority
avanti	Forward
avanzare	To go forward, to advance
avere	To have
avvenire	To happen
avvertire	To warn
avvicinare	To come near
avvocato	Lawyer
azione	Action
azzurro	Light blue
baciare	To kiss
badare	To take care of
bagno	Bathroom
bambina	Child (feminine)
bambino	Child (masculine)
base	Base, basis
basso	Short
bastare	To be enough, to suffice
battaglia	Battle
battere	To beat
bellezza	Beauty
bello	Beautiful
bene	Good, well
bere	To drink
bestia	Beast
bianco	White
biondo	Blonde
bisognare	To need
bisogno	Need
bocca	Mouth
bosco	Forest
braccio	Arm
bravo	Good
breve	Brief, short
bruciare	To burn
brutto	Ugly
buio	Dark
buono	Good
buttare	To throw away
cadere	To fall
caffè	Coffee
calcio	Football (soccer)
caldo	Hot, warm
cambiare	To change
camera	Room
camminare	To walk
campagna	Countryside
campo	Field
cane	Dog
cantare	To sing
capace	Capable, skilled, able
capello	Hair (single hair)
capire	To understand
capitare	To happen
capo	Chief, boss
cappello	Hat
carattere	Character
caratteristico	Characteristic
carne	Meat