The passato prossimo, as we saw in the last blog, makes use of the auxiliary verbs essere = to be, and avere = to have, in order to express an event that happened in the past, e.g.: sono andato/a = I went, ho mangiato = I ate, siamo venuti/e = we came, abbiamo visto = we saw.

There are three verbs, however, that require a special construction in the passato prossimo: volere, dovere, and potere. These are called ‘modal verbs’, and when you use them the choice of essere or avere depends on the verb that follows. Let’s look at how this works with some practical examples:

Volere = to want to

1. with avere:  ho voluto finire questo lavoro = I wanted to finish this job

2. with essere:  sono voluto/a andare al mercato = I wanted to go to the market

3. reflexive:  mi sono voluto/a riposare= I wanted to relax

Dovere = to have to

1. with avere:  abbiamo dovuto rimandare l’appuntamento = we had to postpone the appointment

2. with essere:  è dovuto/a andare al pronto soccorso = he/she had to go to the first aid department

3. reflexive:  si è dovuto/a cambiare = he/she had to change clothes

Potere = to be able to

1. with avere:  non ho potuto mangiare tutto = I couldn’t eat everything

2. with essere:  è potuto/a partire prima = he/she was a able to leave early

3. reflexive:  mi sono potuto/a fare una doccia = I was able to have a shower

Obviously this is a more complicated construction than the normal passato prossimo, and you have to be sure about your use of auxiliary verbs before you are able to use modal verbs confidently. For example, if you want to say “I had to come back straightaway” you will need to know that the verb ritornare = to return/come back, uses the auxiliary essere e.g. sono ritornato/a = ‘I came back’. You then simply insert the modal verb dovere = ‘to have to’, followed by the infinitive ritornare in order to create the statement: sono dovuto/a ritornare subito = I had to return/come back straight away. If you want to say “I had to eat straight away” you will need to know that the verb mangiare = to eat, uses the auxiliary avere = to have. Follow the same pattern of inserting the modal verb dovere to create the statement ho dovuto mangiare subito = I had to eat straight away.

N.B. When using  the auxiliary verb essere remember to change the past participle according to gender: sono dovuto andare = I had to go (masculine), sono dovuta andare = I had to go (feminine), è dovuto venire = he had to come, è dovuta venire = she had to come, etc.