Italian past tense: How to form the trapassato prossimo?
Italian past tense: the past perfect is a tense of the past, like the present perfect and the imperfect, which we have already seen. It is a compound tense formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary verbs avere (to have) or essere (to be) and the past participle of the verb.
[Il trapassato prossimo = the imperfect of essere and avere + Il past participle].
| Finire (To finish) | Arrivare (To arrive) |
| Avevo finito I had finished Avevi finito You had finished Aveva finito He/she had finished Avevamo finito We had finished Avevate finito You had finished Avevano finito They had finished | Ero arrivato/arrivata I had arrived Eri arrivato/arrivata You had arrived Era arrivato/arrivata He/ she had arrived Eravamo arrivati/arrivate We had arrived Eravate arrivati/arrivate You had arrived Erano arrivati/arrivate They had arrived |
- Quando siete arrivati, avevo appena finito di mettere in ordine.
- When you arrived, I had just finished tidying up.
- Erano già partiti i tuoi amici, quando hai telefonato?
- Had your friends already left when you called?
- Non ho dovuto spiegare nulla perchè tutti avevano capito.
- I didn’t have to explain anything because everyone understood.
- Il bisnonno di luca aveva vissuto in Argentina.
- Luca’s great-grandfather had lived in Argentina.
- Scusi, signora , non l’avevo vista in Argentina.
- Excuse me, ma’am, I hadn’t seen you in Argentina.
- Scusi, Signora, non l’avevo vista. È molto che aspetta?
- Sorry, ma’am, I hadn’t seen you. Have you been waiting for a long time?
- C’erano molte persone che non avevano fatto la prenotazione.
- There were many people who hadn’t made reservations.
The past perfect of the verb avere is formed with the auxiliary avere, and that of the verb essere with the auxiliary essere.
- Ho finito il lavoro solo a giugno perchè prima non avevo tempo.
- I only finished the work in June because I didn’t have time before.
- Prima di conoscere Lina, Gianni era stato sposato già tre volte.
- Before meeting Lina, Gianni had already been married three times.
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Italian past tense: How to use the trapassato prossimo?
Italian past tense: the past perfect tense is used to underline the temporal succession between two events that took place in the past, when it may be important to define which event occurred before and which after. For this reason, it is usually found together with another verb in the past tense and often with tense expressions such as (dopo che (after that), (appena (just), (già (already). etc.
- Ero appena uscita dalla doccia quando avete telefonato.
- I had just gotten out of the shower when you called.
- Non sono andata al cinema perchè avevo già visto quel film.
- I didn’t go to the cinema because I had already seen that film.
- Sandra era felice perchè aveva passato l’esame.
- Sandra was happy because she passed the exam.
- Eravamo partiti da poco quando abbiamo forato.
- We had just started when we punctured.
- Credevo di aver perso il portafogli, ma lo avevo lasciato a casa.
- I thought I’d lost my wallet, but I’d left it at home.
- Questa spiegazione ha chiarito tutto quello che prima non avevo capito.
- This explanation clarified everything I didn’t understand before.
Sometimes the event closest to the present is implied and not expressed in the sentence. In these cases, the past perfect is used alone or with another verb in the present.
- Scusi, Signora,[ora la vedo, ma prima] Non l’avevo vista!
- Excuse me, ma’am [now I see you, but before] I hadn’t seen you!
- [Ora ti riconosco, ma prima] non ti avevo riconosciuto!
- [Now I recognize you, but before] I didn’t recognize you!
- L’auto non c’è, eppure l’aveva parcheggiata qui all’angolo.
- The car isn’t there, yet she had parked it here on the corner.
- Il macellaio aveva finito il filetto.
- The butcher had run out of fillet.
- È una notizia molto interessant, ma mi era sfuggita.
- It’s very interesting news, but she had escaped me.
The past perfect is also used to indicate a more distant past or in any case felt “detached” from the present situation because something happened that interrupted the continuity of the relationship between past and present.
This use of the past perfect is more widespread in Northern Italy, as an alternative to the remote past.
- Napoleone aveva perso a Waterloo.
- Napoleon had lost a Waterloo.
- Maradona aveva giocato nel Napoli.
- Maradona had played for Napoli.
- Gianna si era innamorata di Pino.
- Gianna had fallen in love with Pino.
- Il nonno di Lino aveva lavorato in Aferica.
- Lino’s grandfather had worked in Africa.
To indicate that there is still a close relationship with the present, instead of the past perfect tense, the present perfect can also be used to indicate an event that happened before another in the past
- Ieri ho ricevuto la cartolina che mi hai spedito l’estate scorsa.
- Yesterday I received the postcard you sent me last summer.
- Non ho ancora letto il libro che mi hai regalato per il mio compleanno.
- I haven’t read the book you gave me for my birthday yet.
- Luca non è ancora andato a vivere nella casa che ha comprato due anni fa.
- Luca still hasn’t gone to live in the house he bought two years ago.
- Lina non è venuta a sciare con noi perchè l’anno scorso si è rotta una gamba.
- Lina didn’t come skiing with us because last year she broke her leg.