Passato Prossimo e Imperfetto
Posted on 04. Feb, 2009 by Serena in Grammar
If you’re struggling to understand when to use the present perfect and when it is more appropriate to use the imperfect this blog should help you. In my experience of teaching Italian to English speakers I have found this to be a very common problem. It is equally difficult for Italian people learning English to know when to use the appropriate past tense: is it “I have done” or “I did” or even “I have been doing”? Hmmmm…….anyway, lets have a look at those elusive Italian past tenses.
The passato prossimo, which is usually called the “present perfect” or “perfect” in English grammar, is formed by the auxiliary verb essere or avere followed by the participio passato (past participle): e.g. sono andata (I went), ho fatto (I did). The passato prossimo is the main tense used in Italian to convey an action which has been completed in the past, and is used to translate both the English present perfect and the simple past: e.g.: ho gia’ visto quel film (I have already seen that film), ho visto quel film sabato scorso (I saw that film last Saturday).
The imperfetto (imperfect) is characterized by the sounds -evo, -avo or -ivo e.g. avevo (I had/was having), pensavo (I thought/was thinking), dormivo (I slept/was sleeping) with the exception of the verb essere which is irregular (ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano). The imperfect describes past actions that are incomplete, that is the starting and/or finishing moments are not expressed, are left vague.
Because of its incomplete nature, the imperfetto is used:
1) to describe the way people, objects or places were in the past: e.g. da piccola avevo i capelli ricci (when I was a child I used to have curly hair); era un uomo coraggioso (he was a brave man); la macchina era arrugginita (the car was rusty);
2) to describe situations and factual conditions (this tense is used a lot in literature): e.g. la citta’ era deserta e non si vedevano macchine (the town was empty and there were no cars to be seen); era buio e la pioggia cadeva gentilmente (it was dark and the rain was falling lightly);
3) to describe states of mind or health: e.g. avevo sonno (I was sleepy); gli faceva male la testa (he had an headache); ero triste (I was sad);
4) to describe what used to happen such as habits and repeated actions in the past: e.g. ogni venerdi’ ci incontravamo al bar (every Friday we used to meet at the bar); d’estate andavamo sempre al mare (in the summer we always used to go to the sea); correva alla porta ogni volta che suonava il campanello (he would run to the door every time that the bell rang).
Because of their differences in nature the imperfetto and the passato prossimo can be found together in the same sentence, with the imperfect giving the setting or scenario, and the passato prossimo describing the main action: e.g. mentre guardavo la televisione e’ suonato il telefono (while I was watching television the phone rang); dov’eri quando e’ arrivato Giovanni? (where were you when Giovanni arrived?); quando ci siamo svegliati pioveva (when we woke up it was raining).
N.B. when the exact time or duration of an action is specified, the passato prossimo is used: e.g. Giovanni e’ vissuto in Inghilterra dal 2002 al 2007 (Giovanni lived in England from 2002 to 2007); ho studiato il francese per tre anni (I studied French for three years); Mario ha dormito fino alle 11 (Mario slept until 11 o’clock).
To clarify: we would use the imperfetto to say ‘non sapevo che eri malato’ (I didn’t know that you were ill) because the time is not specified, and the passato prossimo to say ‘solo ieri ho saputo che eri malato’ (I only found out yesterday that you were ill), as the time, ieri, is specified.
For more information on the use of the past tense with da (since) or per (for), see my post Da or Per
Adesso ho finito!
I have a test tomorrow and this was very helpful! Thank you!!!
This was very helpful. I am vexed by the differences between the imperfetto and the passato prossimo and this was a wonderful explanation. Though I understand it intellectually, I need to practice speaking it as much as possible! Grazie mille!
Hello
I struggle with the pronunciation of noi and loro versions of imperfetto – e.g. volevamo contro volevano. Is it right the stress for noi is on the second ‘v’ – vol-eh-VAH-mo contro vol-EH-vano or the other way round?
Molto grazie per la tua auita!
Karen
Salve Karen! Yes, your pronunciation of the imperfect tense is correct: in ‘noi’ the stress is always on -VA-mo, eg: voleVAmo, whilst in LORO the stress is always on the syllable before -vano, eg: voLEvano.
Saluti da Serena
thank you,was very helpfull.
Thank you for this post. I am studying Italian in Rome and came across this post. Keep up the good work.
Excellent blog, I’m studying in Prato, Italy and this is really helping me clarify this topic. Thanks
It would be really good to have the conjugation for Italian essere set out as it is in Latin grammar books with English meanings.
Present Tense: sum I am, you are, etc
Future Simple Tense: ero, I shall be, you will be, etc
Imperfect Tense: eram, eras, I was, you were, etc
Perfect Tense: fui, -isti, I have been,etc
Future Perfect Tense: fuero, eris, I shall have been, etc
Pluperfect Tense: fueram,-eras, I had been, you had been,etc
Salve Clive,
If you can get hold of any good Italian grammar book you will certainly find the conjugation for essere.
Alternately you could do a search on the net for ‘conjugation Italian essere’ and you will find results such as this: http://italian.about.com/library/verb/blverb_essere.htm and this: http://www.italian-verbs.com/italian-verbs/conjugation.php?id=3835
Saluti da Serena
io sono nel livello intermedio uno. e questi informazioni eri piu important me li hanno aiuti. grazie a lei. penso che in 3 mesi saro’ meglio in italiano. spero.
Salve Ala,
Let me give you a bit of help if you don’t mind. Here is what I think you were trying to say:
‘Io sono nel livello intermedio uno, e questa informazione era molto importante, perciò mi ha aiutato, grazie a lei.
Penso che in tre mesi il mio italiano sarà migliorato, almeno spero.’ (I’m on level one intermediate, and this information was very important, therefore it has helped me, thank you. I think that in three months my Italian will have improved, at least I hope so)
A presto, Serena
This was sooo helpful. My professor is insane and she definitely was not good at explaining this. Grazie!!
Serena
I struggle with when to use ‘ero’ and ‘sono stata’. I know some fixed phrases, e.g. ‘sono stata in Italia per la mia vacanza’ but even my teacher hasn’t been able to explain how to use it properly. Can you help?
Molto grazie
Karen
Salve Karen, I’m on holiday in England at the moment. When I’m back in Italy I’ll write you a proper reply and try to help you with ‘sono stata’, ‘ero’ ecc., va bene?
Saluti da Serena
How would I write ‘I grew up in a terrace house’? Would I use the passato prossimo as I have finished growing up or the imperfect? Sono cresciuto or crescevo? Thanks.
Salve Christine, In this case you would use the passato prossimo: Sono cresciuta in una casa a schiera. N.B. as a female you would use cresciuta and not cresciuto
Saluti da Serena
Grazie Serina. I appreciate your help.
Mi dispiace! Grazie Serena.
Christine
Dear Serena,
I’m Russian. I speak English. I’m learning Italian. Your plain explanations are of great help! Thank you very much!
Irene
this concept has been confusing me for years. thanks for the help!
Just another hint on pronunciation–
third pers. plural matches singular:
vol – EH -va
vol- EH – vano
in the present, too:
des- I -der -a
des -I – der – ano
helpful…but i’m still confused.
Try this more recent blog: http://blogs.transparent.com/italian/imperfetto-e-passato-prossimo-quale-devo-usare/
Saluti da Serena
this was so helpful. i was really having trouble with when to use essere or avere, and also with what you call “imperfect setting the stage and passator prossimo telling the main event” my text book uses the term “interrupting” for stuff like that and i just could not grasp it. thank you so much
i have known more clearly than before. This is very helpfull.
This was so helpful! I’ve been confused all semester and my test is in an hour and I think i got it!