Italian Language Blog

In part 1 we looked at the conjugation of the passato remoto (historical past). Today we are going to look at the different ways in which it is used:

In historical writing:

Il passato remoto is, of course, commonly used when writing biographies or recounting historical events, e.g. Caravaggio nacque nel 1573 (Caravaggio was born in 1573); l’Italia fu unificata ne 1861 (Italy was unified in 1861).

In formal writing:

Il passato remoto is the traditional tense used in novels, short stories, legends, fairy tales, and so on due to the sense of remoteness and detachment that it conveys, and for this reason it is mostly used in the third person singular or plural, e.g. Quando i Sette Nani tornarono a casa dal lavoro, trovarono Biancaneve riversa sul pavimento (When the Seven Dwarfs returned home from work, they found Snow White fallen to the floor). Il capomastro, preoccupato per i continui ritardi,  decise di fare un patto col diavolo (The master builder, concerned about the interminable delays, decided to make a pact with the devil), from La leggenda del Ponte del Diavolo.

Passato Remoto or Passato Prossimo?

In novels and formal writing the two tenses are often used side by side. Il passato remoto is used in the general formal description, while il passato prossimo is used in the direct speech to give a sense of colloquialism and informality. Here is a short excerpt from “Quando s’è capito il gioco” (When the game has been understood), a short story by Luigi Pirandello. I’ve highlighted the passato remoto in blue, and the passato prossimo in purple: Non potè seguitare; si coprì furiosamente il volto con le mani e ruppe in un pianto stridulo, convulso, d’onta, di ribrezzo, di rabbia. “Oh Dio” fece Memmo. “Ma quando è stato? Chi ha potuto osare?” (She couldn’t carry on; she furiously covered her face with her hands and broke into a high pitched, convulsed cry, of shame, of disgust, of rage. “Oh God” Memmo said. “But when did it happen? Who would have dared?”)

Passato Remoto and spoken Italian:

In the North of Italy il passato remoto is very rarely used, the main past tense being il passato prossimo. In the South, on the other hand, especially in Sicily, il passato remoto is widely used. When we jokingly try to imitate a Sicilian, we always make sure we use the passato remoto, e.g. “Che fu?” (What’s happened?). In Toscana and Central Italy il passato remoto is commonly used alongside the passato prossimo. Due to its sense of detachment and, as the name suggests, remoteness, we prefer it to the passato prossimo when recounting a long gone event which we wish to imbue with a feeling of history or fairy tale, a bit like storytelling, e.g. Quando ebbi il morbillo, passai tutta la convalescenza a letto a leggere, e così mi venne una brutta infiammazione agli occhi (When I had the measles, I spent my whole convalescence reading in bed, and so I got a nasty inflammation of the eyes). We stick with the passato prossimo for normal every day conversation, e.g. la settimana scorsa ho avuto l’influenza, e mi sento ancora molto debole (last week I had the flu, and I still feel weak).

Passato Remoto and Imperfetto:

The passato prossimo is interchangeable with the passato remoto, e.g. mentre cenavo è suonato il telefono (passato prossimo: the telephone rang while I was eating dinner), is interchangeable with: mentre cenavo suonò il telefono (passato remoto: the telephone rang while I was eating dinner). This is not the case, however, for the imperfetto because the imperfetto describes an on going action or event, (e.g. il telefono suonava = the telephone was ringing) rather than one that took place at a particular point in time (è suonato il telefono = the telephone rang).

In his latest guest blog, Il Negozio del Papà di Mattia, our friend Mattia uses il Passato Remoto (Historical Past), a tense that is often seen as more or less redundant because it’s mainly used in formal and historical writing, e.g. Napoleone morì nel 1821 all’Isola di Sant’Elena (Napoleon died in 1821 on the Island of Saint Helena).

I remember that, one summer many years ago, a boy told me: “Si sente che leggi molto: usi il passato remoto nel parlare” (One can hear that you read a lot: you use the historical past when you speak). This little anecdote illustrates the regional differences that exist here in Italy: I often speak in the passato remoto, not because I like reading (even if I really do!), but because I come from Lucca in Toscana, where il passato remoto is still alive, alongside the passato prossimo (present perfect).  The boy in my anecdote was from Milano in the North of Italy, where this tense has become pretty much obsolete .

Before looking at the ways in which il passato remoto is used, let’s see how we conjugate this tense.

1. Regular verbs in –are, e.g. Parlare (to talk):

io parlai (I talked), tu parlasti (you talked, singular, informal), Lei parlò (You talked, singular, formal), lui/lei parlò (he/she talked), noi parlammo (we talked), voi parlaste (you talked, plural), loro parlarono (they talked).

2. Regular verbs in –ere, e.g. Credere (to believe):

io credei / credetti (I believed), tu credesti (you believed, singular, informal), Lei credé / credette (You believed, singular, formal), lui/lei credé / credette (he/she believed), noi credemmo (we believed), voi credeste (you believed, plural), loro crederono / credettero (they believed).

3. Regular verbs in –ire, e.g. Sentire (to hear):

io sentii (I heard), tu sentisti (you heard, singular, informal), Lei sentì (You heard, singular, formal), lui/lei sentì (he/she heard), noi sentimmo (we heard), voi sentiste (you heard, plural), loro sentirono (they heard).

N.B. When not marked, the accent always falls on the first vowel of the suffix, e.g. parlai, parlasti, credei, credette, sentii, sentimmo, sentirono.

Unfortunately, il passato remoto is full of irregular verbs, especially amongst the verbs ending in –ere (my grammar book records 40 verbs just for this group!). Of course, at the top of the list are the two essentials: essere (to be) and avere (to have).

Essere: io fui (I was), tu fosti (you were, singular, informal), Lei fu (You were, singular, formal), lui/lei fu (he/she was), noi fummo (we were), voi foste (you were, plural), loro furono (they were).

Avere: io ebbi (I had), tu avesti (you had, singular, informal), Lei ebbe (You had, singular, formal), lui/lei ebbe (he/she had), noi avemmo (we had), voi aveste (you had, plural), loro ebbero (they had).

You can find a more or less exhaustive list of Italian irregular verbs, with their complete conjugation, here: Verbi Irregolari

In part 2 we’ll have a look at how il passato remoto is used.

Buono studio!

Here’s another article by our talented guest blogger Mattia. In this blog, he explains where gets his passion for cooking from, and tells us a bit about his fathers salumeria gastronomia. Words and phrases highlighted in blue are explained in the accompanying Vocabolario e Grammatica.

Salve lettori,
sono il giovane cuoco italiano, Mattia!
Nello scorso articolo vi parlai molto della mia passione per la cucina, ma non vi dissi da chi questa passione mi venne inculcata!
Ebbene oggi vi parlo di Lui, un uomo che ha lavorato molto nel campo della gastronomia, e che oggi si gode la sua passione gastronomica nella sua grande bottega, mio padre!

Partendo dalle sue prime esperienze, mio padre Antonio Selicato, si diplomòal Liceo Classico (per chi non lo sapesse nel Liceo Classico si trattano materie storiche e lingue antiche come greco e latino) ma non sapeva che la sua passione per la gastronomia l’avrebbe portato dov’è ora. Infatti dopo aver lavorato prima come salumiere e poi come responsabile generale di un Supermercato, insieme ad altri 2 soci, nel 1999 divenne gestore della salumeria gastronomia e carni fresche “Saporissimi”.

Non potete immaginare quanto sia incoraggiante per una persona veder realizzata l’attività che aspettava da anni, e per la quale lui è sempre stato portato.
Dall’inizio dell’attività, la qualità del suo negozio è stata crescente. Nel suo negozio vende prodotti di prima categoria come il Prosciutto di Parma DOP o il Grana Padano DOP stagionato 36 mesi, costosissimo!!! (una forma arriva a costare più di 550,00 €!!!!!), e molti altri prodotti sia nazionali sia tipici del posto come la Nduja.
Invece per quanto riguarda la carne fresca, mio padre ha conquistato il livello più alto di tutta la città di Foggia, scegliendo bene i suoi fornitori, e ciò gli ha permesso di accaparrarsi una clientela molto alta, soprattutto Ristoranti, vendendo carni di manzo argentino, o la Scottona (tipica del luogo) e altre carni pregiate.

Vocabolario e Grammatica:

parlai = Passato Remoto (Historical Past), first person singular, of the verb parlare (to talk)

dissi = Passato Remoto (Historical Past), first person singular, of the verb dire (to say)

venne = Passato Remoto (Historical Past), third person singular, of the verb venire (to come), used here with the meaning of essere (to be)

da chi questa passione mi venne inculcata =  “Who instilled this passion into me”. Literally “by whom this passion was instilled into me”

si diplomò= Passato Remoto (Historical Past), third person singular, of the reflexive verb diplomarsi (to graduate)

si trattano = Impersonal form of the verb trattare (to deal with, to discuss). Here it’s used with a passive meaning: “historical subjects and old languages are dealt with/discussed”

l’avrebbe portato = Past conditional of the verb portare (to take, to bring). Whereas in English the simple conditional is used to express something that would or should happen, in Italian we use the past conditional to express this concept, i.e. we say ‘would have’/‘should have’ instead of simple ‘would’/‘should’  for example: mi ha detto che sarebbe venuto questo pomeriggio (he told me that he would come this afternoon), avevo sentito che il negozio sarebbe stato chiuso per qualche giorno (I’d heard that the shop would be closed for a few days). Hence: ma non sapeva che la sua passione per la gastronomia l’avrebbe portato dov’è ora (but he didn’t know that his passion for gastronomy would take him to where he is today).

divenne = Passato Remoto (Historical Past), third person singular, of the verb divenire (to become)

per la quale lui è sempre stato portato:  essere portato/a per qualcosa = to have a natural ability for something,hence: per la quale lui è sempre stato portato (for which he’s always had a natural ability)

DOP = Denominazione di Origine Protetta, an acronym used in the EU. The DOP ‘marchio’ assures us that the complete process of cultivation / breeding, and manufacturing takes place in a determined geographical zone, i.e. that in which the product has its origins.

Grana Padano = a type of cheese very similar to the Parmigiano Reggiano, which is produced in the Pianura Padana, the big plain in the North of Italy.

prodotti sia nazionali sia tipici del posto = the repetition sia … sia … means “both … and”, e.g. sia Marco sia Giovanni sono malati = “both Marco and Giovanni are ill”. The variation sia … che … is also very common, e.g. sia Marco che Giovanni sono malati

Nduja = a sort of spreadable, very hot salami, typically from Calabria

accaparrarsi = to corner/capture: accaparrarsi il mercato (to corner the market)

la Scottona is a young cow, less than 16 months old, which has never given birth. Its meat is particularly tender and tasty

Tomorrow, in part 2, Mattia continues his description of his father’s shop, and what it means to him.