Speak Italian like a nativewhen you use theItalian verb “Passare” !
In this blog,“Use ‘Passare’ to Speak Italian Like a Native, “we will focus on how and when to use the Italian verbpassareduring daily conversation. This is the start of a new series, and I will try to post an in-depth analysis of a different Italian verb every few months.
The heart of any language is its verbs. Too often, language teachers focus on verb conjugation drills and provide a few example sentences, assuming that the student then has the tools he or she needs to communicate. Although many Italian verbs have similar meanings to those in English, and it is sometimes easy to transition between English and Italian during conversation, other times the use of an Italian verb will vary from its English counterpart. I believe that to speak fluently in any language it is important to have an in-depth understanding ofhow each verb is usedin real life situations.
In which situation will one verb commonly be chosen over another? How will the point one is making change depending on the verb chosen? How will the meaning of the chosen verb change with use of the reflexive counterpart of the verb? This information must be studied and understood so it can be easily accessible when it comes time to have a conversation. Since this information is not commonly found in text books, I have decided to make it the focus of a blog series.
“Passare,”the Italian verb that means“to pass by”is one of those verbs that is important to “get to know” if one wants to use it correctly.
Enjoy the first topic in this series:Use”Passare”to Speak Italian Like a Native. —Kathryn Occhipinti
Special thanks to Italian instructor Maria Vanessa Colapinto.
Parts of this blog have been reposted fromItalian Phrases We Use EVERY Day! – “The Many Uses for “Passare”fromConversational Italian!a blog by the same author. Check out this blog as well if you are interested in phrases to use every day!
Speak Italian Like a Native:
Italian VerbPassare
The Italian verbpassaremeans“to pass,”as in“to pass through,” “pass by,”“pass time,”or“spend time.”This verb is used in many ways in Italian! We use the verb “to pass” or “passed”less often in informal English, often defaulting to more general English verbs like, “get/gone,” put” or “spend/spent” when we really mean “pass or passed.” But in Italian, it is important to be more specific and use the verbpassareif you want to sound like a native when describing situations that have come to pass!
1. Usepassarewhen you will “pick up” or “spend time with” someone
Use the Italian verbpassarewhen you want to“pass by”and“pick someone up.”Passareis used in the important everyday expression“passare a prendere,”which means “to pick (someone) up (by car).”
In the same way, use the verbpassareto describe“dropping into see”someone or“dropping in to visit”someone with the phrases,“passare a far visita”and“passare a trovare.”The latter phrase is similar to, but not identical in meaning to“andare a trovare,”which you may recall means“to go to visit”someone.
If you are inviting someone to visit you informally, but in an business setting, simply usepassarewith“in ufficio.”This phrase may be useful if you do not have a specific time you need to see someone on a particular day.
Another common informal phrase is“passare un attimo da casa,”which means,“to drop by the house for a bit.”Use this phrase to invite a friend over for an informal get-together or quick meeting at your house. If you use the verbpassarein conversation, this will signal both your familiarity with both the person you are visiting, and with the Italian language!
Passerò/Passo a prendertialle otto.”
I will (pass by and) pick you up at 8 AM.”
Side note: if you want to ask someone to “pick you up” from a particular place,venireis used withprendere:
“Può venire alla stazione a prendermi?”
“Can you (polite) come to the station and get me?”
And a few more examples:
Domani, passo a far visita a mia zia Anna.
Tomorrow, I will drop in to see my Aunt Ann.
Domenica, passo a trovare la mia amica del cuore Maria.
On Sunday, I will drop in to visit my dear friend Maria.
Per favore, passi in ufficio domani mattina, alle otto o dopo.
Please drop in to my office tomorrow morning, at 8 AM or later. (polite)
La settimana prossima, passeremo un attimo da casa mia.
Next week, let’s drop by my house for a bit.
2. Usepassareto mention somebody “passing by.”
If a person has recently “passed by,” someone else or “passed by”/ “gone through” a place, whether walking or driving, we must useessereas our past tense helping verb. Notice that this differs from English, and the English translation uses the verb “to have” instead.
“Ma quando Giovanni è passato davanti a me, l’ho riconosciuto.”
“But when John passed by in front of me, I recognized him.”
Michele non in piazza ancora.È passato!
Michael is not in the piazza anymore. He has passed by!
3. Usepassarewhen making references about time
Use the verbpassareto talk abouttime “passing by”in Italian, just as we do in English. Time “passes by” all by itself, and is the subject of the sentence, so we must useessere(to be)as our past tense helping verb.
“Quanto tempo è passato!” ha detto Maria quando lei ha incontrato una vecchia amica* per strada.
“How much time has gone by!” Mary said when she met an old friend on the street.
*una vecchia amica= an old (longtime) friend;una amica vecchia= a friend that is old in years
If we want to talk about how we were doing something “to pass the time,” in the recent past, or if we have “spent time at” a certain location, we must use the verbpassarewithavereas our helping verb for the past tense.
To mention that you have“passed the night together with someone,”and imply a close relationship with that person, use the phrase,“passare una serata insieme.”
To express the wish that someone“passes time well”over the holidays, use the verbpassarewithaverefor the helping verb.(Notice the use of the subjunctive tense foraverewith the verbsperare(to wish)in the example sentence.)
Ieri, ho passato tutto il pomeriggio a casa di Giulia.
Yesterday, I stayed at Julia’s house all afternoon.
Ieri sera, io e Michele abbiamo passato la serata insieme.
Last night, Michael and I spent the night together.
“Passa un buon Natale a Chicago!”
“Have (spend) a nice Christmas in Chicago!”
“Spero che la famiglia abbia passato un buon Natale!”
Lascia passare i mesi dell’inverno e d’estate pensiamo alle vacanze.
Let the winter months pass and in the summer we will think about vacation.
4. Usepassarewhen talking on the telephone
Use the verbpassareto ask someone to “put through” another person talking on the telephone to you. This situation is encountered most often at work, of course, when trying to reach an individual important enough to have a secretary to screen calls. The first example given below is therefore in the polite tense. Now-a-days many individuals have cell phones, so it is less common, but still possible, to call a land-line at home and have a family member answer, so the same question may also be useful in the familiar tense.
When describing the act of passing the phone to someone in the past tense, use the helping verbavere(to have).
I’ve put Michael through to you.(Italian “a te” not frequently used.)
Ti ho passato Michele!
I’ve put Michael through to you!
Te l’ho passato!
I’ve put him through to you!
5. Use the reflexivepassarsito exchange things with someone
Finally, the reflexive verb,passarsi,has a slightly different meaning from the non-reflexive form that we have been discussing above. The reflexive verbpassarsimeans“to exchange”something and is used in the same way as the verbscambiarsi.Both verbs takeesserein the past tense, of course, because they are reflexive!
“Allora, ci siamo passati i numeri di telefono per tenerciin contatto d’ora in poi.”
“Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will stay in contact from now on.”
Remember how to usethe Italian verbpassarein conversation and I guarantee you will use this verb every day!
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area. “Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy!Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC
Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language.Meraviglioso!
But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently?Can you talk about what you did on your Italian beach vacation using the past tense correctly—over the phone?
Can you speak Italian the way you would speak in your native language, with complex and varied sentences? This is more difficult than it may seem at first, and it’s something that I am always working on!
This series will focus on the situations that have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian instructors and friends. The “Speak Italian” blog series willfocus on the type of sentence structure and vocabulary we all need to remember to be more fluent when we speak Italian!
To take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian, we must know how to use the present and the past tense easily; in this segment, we will focus on the pronomial verbesserciand the past tensein Italian. We will discusshow to usethe helping verbsavereandesserewith thepassato prossimopast tense, thetrapassatopast tense, the verbpassarein the past tense,and the past progressive tense. At the end will be an introduction to the future tense as well!
If you need to refresh your memory on when to use thepassato prossimoform of the past tense versus when to use theimperfetto, please visit the third blog post in this series, Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!
In the“Speak Italian” blog series, a short essay or dialogue in Italian will be presented about a commonly used topic of conversation. Then, we will review the Italian grammar that is necessary to talk about the particular topic in detail. And finally, the same material will be presented in Italian and English, with blanks for the reader to fill in with descriptions from his or her own life or to practice verb conjugation! Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian in your next conversation!
Enjoy the fourth topic in this series,“Speak Italian: Italian Vacation Revisited by Phone” —Kathryn Occhipinti
In the dialogue to follow, we listen in on a conversation between an Italian mother and her daughter after the two have been separated for a few weeks. It turns out that the daughter has been enjoying a vacation on the beaches of Sicily. While reading their conversation, try to pick out the past tense verbs and notice which helping verb—avereoressere—is used for each.
And… by the way, the southern coast of Sicily has beautiful beaches and really is a destination for windsurfing!
Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone
Una mattina, mentre Francesca stava preparando la prima colazione per se stessa e suo figlio che si chiama Carlo, i due hanno sentito lo squillo del cellulare.
One morning, while Frances was preparing breakfast for herself and her son Carl, they heard the cell phone ring.
Carlo ha detto, “Rispondo io” e si è diretto verso al soggiorno. Ha preso il cellulare dal tavolino e ha risposto.
Carl said, “I’ll get it (I’ll answer it),” and headed over to the living room. He took the cell phone from the end table and answered (it).
“Pronto,” ha detto lui. “Chi è? Chi parla?” E dopo: “Anna! Come stai? Ti passo mamma.”
“Hello,” he said. “Who is it? Who’s calling (lit. speaking)?” And after, “Anna! How are you? I’ll get (pass the phone to) mom for you.”
Era Anna, la figlia di Francesca, che era appena tornata dalla vacanza in Sicilia!
It was Anna, Frances’s daughter, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily!
Francesca aveva ricevuto qualche messaggio da Anna sul cellulare, ma non si erano parlate a telefono per tre settimane.
Frances had received some texts from Anna on the cell phone, but they had not spoken to each other on the phone for three weeks.
“Quanto tempo è passato!” ha detto Francesca ad Anna, dopo che Carlo le ha passato il cellulare. “Sono molto contenta di sentirti!”
“How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone. “I am so happy to hear from you!”
“Mamma! Sono solo tre settimane!” ha detto Anna a Francesca.
“Mom! (Up until now it) is only three weeks!”(English: has been only) said Anna to Frances.
“Lo so. Dimmi! Dove sei? Perché non sei tornata a casa? Sei ancora alla stazione? Passerò a prenderti prima del lavoro.”
“I know. Tell me! Where are you? Why haven’t you come home? Are you still at the station? I will pick you up before work.”
“Stai calma, mamma!” ha detto Anna. “Siamo arrivate a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ho passato la notte a casa di Giulia.”
“Calm down, mom!” Anna said. “We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”
Anna ha continuato a parlare: “Verrò ad Avezzano in treno e sarò alla stazione alle quattordici. Chi può venire a prendermi alla stazione, tu or Carlo?”
Anna continued (to talk): “I will come to Avezzano by train and will be at the station at 2 p.m. Who can come to pick me up at the station, you or Carl?”
“Questo pomeriggio sarà in ufficio, ma Carlo può portarti a casa in macchina sua.”
“This afternoon I will be at the office, but Carl can take you home in his car.”
“Ci sarò,” ha detto Carlo, che ha sentito la conversazione. “Non preoccuparti!”
“I will be there,” said Carl, who had heard the conversation. “Don’t worry!”
“È papà?” ha chiesto Anna. “Non c’è?”
“And dad?” asked Anna. “Is he (not) there?”
“No. Non c’è a casa questa settimana. È dovuto andare a Milano.”
“No. He’s not at home this week. He had to go to Milan.”
“Dimmi un po’ della tua vacanza. C’era bel tempo? Era bella la spiaggia in Sicilia? E come era l’appartamento della famiglia di Giulia?”
“Tell me a little bit about your vacation. Was the weather nice? Was the beach nice in Sicily? And how was Julia’s family’s apartment?”
“C’era molto sole, naturalmente! Eravamo in Sicilia! La spiaggia era molto bella. Mi piace molto la zona di Ragusa, lo sai. Ti ho mandato molte foto via SMS. Non le hai ricevute?”
“It was very sunny, naturally! We were in Sicily! The beach was very beautiful. I love the area around Ragusa, you know. I texted a lot of photos to you. Didn’t you receive them?”
“Si, le ho ricivute. Ma che hai fatto per tutti quei giorni sulla spiaggia?”
“Yes, I received them. But what did you do for all those days on the beach?”
“Ho preso il sole. Mi sono rilassata molto. Ho nuotato con Giulia e qualche amica che abbiamo incontrato là.”
“I sunbathed. I relaxed a lot. I swam with Julia and some friends that we met there.”
“Li conosco, questi amici?”
“Do I know these friends?”
“Ne conosci solamento uno. Ricordi Giovanni che ho incontrato all’università di Roma?”
“You know only one of them. Do you remember John whom I met at college in Rome?”
“No. Non me lo recordo affatto.”
“No. I really don’t remember him.”
“È un tipo corto ma magro… con i capelli neri. In ogni caso, l’ho incontrato per caso sulla spiaggia. C’erano tre ragazzi vicino a me. Ma Giovanni è passato davanti a me e l’ho riconosciuto.”
“He is the short type but thin… with black hair. In any case, I met him by chance on the beach. There were three guys near me. But John passed by in front of me and I recognized him.”
“L’ho riconosciuto subito, perché lui mi piaceva molto quando eravamo a scuola insieme.”
“I recognized him right away, because I really liked him when we were at school together.”
“Veramente? Non mi hai mai parlato di lui prima.”
“Really? You never talked to me about him before.”
“Allora, ci siamo passati i numeri di telefono e resteremo in contatto d’ora in poi.”
“Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will remain in contact from now on.”
“Va bene!Qual cos’altro è successo?”
“Very well! What else happened?”
“Ho anche camminato molto sulla spiaggia e qualche volta ho corso un po’ sul lungomare dietro dell’appartamento. Una mattina sono corsa al porto di Ragusa per incontrari i miei amici.”
“I also walked a lot on the beach, and several times I ran a bit along the boardwalk in back of the apartment. One morning I ran to the port of Ragusa to meet my friends.”
“Che hai fatto al porto?”
“What did you do at the port?”
“Vicino al porto c’è la spiaggia pubblica. Abbiamo fatto windsurf.”
“Near the port is the public beach. We went windsurfing.”
“Meraviglioso! Lo so che ti piace molto fare windsurf.”
“Great! I know that you really like windsurfing.”
“E uno dei nostri amici ha una barca. Alcune sere siamo restati in barca fino alle nove di sera e abbiamo visti il tramonto sul mare.”
“And one of our friends has a boat. Some nights we stayed in the boat until 9 p.m. and watched the sunset from the sea.”
“Molto bello!”
“Very nice!”
“Un altra sera io e Giulia siamo andate al ristorante a Scicli. Giovanni e un ragazzo che si chiama Paolo ci hanno portato lì. Il ristorante era sottoterra, in una grotta, con le candele accesse sulle tavole.Era molto romantico.”
“Another night Julia and I went to a restaurant in Scicli. John and a guy called Paul took us there. The restaurant was underground, in a grotto, with candles on the tables. It was very romantic.”
“Dopo siamo andati a ballare in un piccolo discoteca vicino. Abbiamo ballato fino alle due di mattina. È stato molto divertente!”
“Afterward, we went to dance in a small club nearby. We danced until 2 a.m. It was a lot of fun!”
“Mi sembra di si!”
“It seems like it was!”
“C’è altrodella storia di Giovanni e me. Ma ora ho appena finito un caffè e devo preparmi per uscire di casa. Ci parliamo più tardi.”
“There’s more to the story about John and me. But now I have just finished a cup of coffee, and I have to get ready to go out. We’ll talk more later.”
“Va bene. Ma ci vediamo presto!”
“OK. But we will see each other soon!”
“Si, mamma! La storia dell’estate è finita ma un altra storia sta per comminciare!”
“Yes, Mom! The summertime story is over, but another story is about to begin!”
The verbessercimeans“to be there,”or“to be around.” Notice that the adverb“ci,”which takes on the meaning of“there,”is an integral part of this verb.
Anyone who has been speaking Italian for even a short time has probably heard the expressions“c’è”for“there is”and“ci sono”for“there are.”These phrases are mentioned in Chapter 6 of our textbook,Conversational Italian for Travelers.Now we know the infinitive verb that the above expressions originate from!
There are many, many expressions that useesserci. Below is a list of the most common expressions.“Ci sarò”for“I will be there!”comes up often in conversation. “Sarò là,”or“Sara lì,”are two equivalent phrases that may be heard today that use the verbessereinstead ofesserci.
A common idiomatic expression that answers the question of personal well-being,“Come stai?”is“Non c’è male,”with the meaning,“Not so bad.”
Many negative expressions useesserci as well.
Finally,esserciis used in the many idiomatic expressions about the weather. A few common weather expressions are listed below.
c’è
there is
C’è una cosa… C’è una cosa…?
There is something… Is there something?
Non c’è problema.
There is no problem.
Non c’è dubbio.
There’s no doubt.
Non c’è bisogno.
There’s no need.
Non c’è più.
There is no more.
Non c’è internet.
The Internet doesn’t work. There’s no Internet there/here.
Non c’è WIFI.
There is no WiFi.
Non c’è male.
Not so bad.
Non c’è verso di…
There’s no way to…/It’s not possible to…
Non c’è da farsi illusioni…
It’s no wonder that…
ci sono
there are
Ci sono tanti turisti a Firenze.
There are many tourists in Florence.
Ce ne sono tanti./Ce ne sono un miliardo.
There are many (of them)./There are a billion (of them).(Any number greater than 1 can be used.)
Non ci sono con la testa.
I am not thinking straight; I am exhausted.
c’era
there was
C’era una volta.
Once upon a time.
Una volta c’era…
In the past there was…/Once there was…
c’erano
there were
C’erano tanti turisti a Firenze.
There were many tourists in Florence.
Ce n’erano tanti. / Ce n’erano un miliardo.
There were many (of them)./There were a billion (of them).(Any number greater than 1 can be used.)
Ci sarò.
I will be there.
Chi c’è con te?
Who is there with you?
Tu avresti dovuto esserci.
You should have been there.
Lei/lui avrebbe dovuto esserci.
He/she should have been there.
Deve esserci una… festa.
There must be a… party there.
Pronto. Chi è? Chi parla?
Hello? Who is it?(telephone greeting usesessere)
C’è al telefono la signora Massa.
Mrs. Massa is on the phone.
Non c’è (lui)?
He/she is not around./He’s not there/here.
Non c’è (nessuno)?
Is anybody around?/Is anybody there? (Nobody is around/there/here?)
Non ci sono per nessuno per la prossima ora.
(lit.) I’m not here for anyone for the next hour.(idiomatic: pretend I’m not here; don’t bother me; leave me alone)
C’è il sole.
There is sun./It is sunny.
C’è bel tempo./Fa bel tempo.
There is nice weather./It is nice out.
C’è brutto tempo./Fa brutto tempo.
It is bad weather./It is bad out.
C’era sole.
There was sun./It was sunny.
C’era bel tempo./Faceva bel tempo.
There was nice weather./It was nice out.
C’era brutto tempo./Faceva brutto tempo.
It was bad weather./It was bad out.
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense– Passato Prossimo Verbs That Take Essere
Here is a list of the most common action verbs that takeesserewhen forming thepassato prossimoform of the past tense in Italian. Most of these verbs describe the act of going from one place to another, although not all of them do. We will break them down into their respective groups in the next sections and then give examples from our dialogue.
The infinitive form is in the first column, and the corresponding past participle is listed in the third column; the irregular past participles are given in red. Remember that whenessereis the helping verb, the endings of the past participles will change to reflect the gender and number of the subject. The various endings are given in parentheses.
It should be noted again thatall reflexive verbs, and the verbpiacere, takeessere.
Infinitive Past Participle
accadere
to happen
accaduto (a)(i,e)
happened
andare
to go
andato (a)(i,e)
went
arrivare
to arrive
arrivato (a)(i,e)
arrived
cadere
to fall
caduto (a)(i,e)
fell
cambiare
to change
cambiato (a)(i,e)
changed
cominciare
to begin
cominciato (a)(i,e)
began
correre#
to run
corso (a)(i,e)
ran
crescere
to grow
cresciuto (a)(i,e)
grown
diventare
to become
diventato (a)(i,e)
became
entrare
to enter
entrato (a)(i,e)
entered
finire+
to finish
finito (a)(i,e)
finished
iniziare+
to begin
iniziato (a)(i,e)
began
morire
to die
morto (a)(i,e)
dead
nascere
to be born
nato (a)(i,e)
born
partire
to leave
partito (a)(i,e)
left
passare*
to pass through/put through
passato (a)(i,e)
passed through; passed
put through
piacere
to be pleasing to
piaciuto (a)(i,e)
pleased
restare
to remain
restato (a)(i,e)
remained
rimanere
to remain
rimasto (a)(i,e)
remained
ritornare
to return
ritornato (a)(i,e)
returned
salire*
to go up
salito (a)(i,e)
went up
scendere*
to do down
sceso (a)(i,e)
went down
stare
to stay/(to be)
stato (a)(i,e)
stayed/been
succedere
to happen
successo (a)(i,e)
happened
uscire
to go out
uscito (a)(i,e)
went out
tornare
to return
tornato (a)(i,e)
returned
venire
to come
venuto (a)(i,e)
came
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Passato Prossimo Action Verbs of DirectionALWAYS TakeEssere
Let’s break down the long list of action verbs that takeessereinto separate categories to make them easier to remember.
The most important rule governing these verbs is that they describemovementfromone placetoanother specific place.The action hasa beginninganda specific end point. Some obvious verbs in the category, likeandare(to go)andvenire(to come), are listed in the following table.
Restareandrimanerehave been included in this list under the theory that one has come from one place and arrived at another place where he or she will “remain” for a bit.
Infinitive Past Participle
andare
to go
andato (a)(i,e)
went
arrivare
to arrive
arrivato (a)(i,e)
arrived
cadere
to fall
caduto (a)(i,e)
fell
entrare
to enter
entrato (a)(i,e)
entered
partire
to leave
partito (a)(i,e)
left
restare
to remain
restato (a)(i,e)
remained
rimanere
to remain
rimasto (a)(i,e)
remained
ritornare
to return
ritornato (a)(i,e)
returned
uscire
to go out
uscito (a)(i,e)
went out
tornare
to return
tornato (a)(i,e)
returned
venire
to come
venuto (a)(i,e)
came
“Un altra sera io e Giuliasiamo andateal ristorante a Scicli.” “Another night, Julia and I went to a restaurant in Scicli.”
“Perchénonsei tornataa casa?” “Why haven’t you come home?”
“Siamo arrivatea Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ho passato la notte a casa di Giulia.” “We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”
“Alcune seresiamo restatiin barca fino alle nove di sera e abbiamo visti il tramonto sul mare.” “Some nights we stayed in the boat until 9 p.m., and we watched the sunset from the sea.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Passato Prossimo Action Verbs of Being/LivingALWAYS TakeEssere
If we think of the verbs that describe “living” as taking us from birth to death; that is, from our beginning to our end point as human beings, it makes sense thatessereis needed as the helping verb. Other commonly used verbs that describe how we all change in life,ingrassare, dimagrire,andinvecchiare, have also been included.
As part of this way of thinking, we have included the verbscambiareanddiventarein this list as well. Because something or someone will changefrom one thingintoanother, there is a beginning and end point implied in these verbs as well. For a similar reason,accadereandsuccedereare included—the endpoint of a change is that something has happened. Below is a list of these verbs.
Infinitive Past Participle
accadere
to happen
accaduto (a)(i,e)
happened
cambiare
to change
cambiato (a)(i.e)
changed
crescere
to grow
cresciuto (a)(i,e)
grown
dimagrire
to lose weight/to become or make one look thin
dimagrito (a)(i,e)
lost weight/became or made one look thin
diventare
to become
diventato (a)(i,e)
became
ingrassare
to gain weight/to become or make one look fat
ingrassato (a)(i,e)
gained weight/became or made one look fat
invecchiare
to age/get old/to become or appear older
to mature
invecchiato (a)(i,e)
to have aged
to have gotten old
to have become or appear older
to mature
morire
to die
morto (a)(i,e)
dead
nascere
to be born
nato (a)(i,e)
born
stare
to stay/(to be)
stato (a)(i,e)
stayed/been
succedere
to happen
successo (a)(i,e)
happened
“Chesuccede?”/“Che sta succedendo?” “What is happening?”
“Che cosaè successo?”/“Che èsuccesso?”/“Cosa è successo?” “What happened?”
“Cosastava succedendoquando siete arrivate alla spiaggia.” “What was happening when we arrived at the beach?”
“Cosa altroè successo?” “What else happened?”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Passato Prossimo Non-Directional Action VerbsALWAYS Take Avere
Camminareandballareare two verbs of movement that take the helping verbavere, rather thanessere.
I’ve always thought this a bit curious, although one could say that dancing is movement without any set direction; spinning and turning are common, of course, and there is no set beginning or end to a dance, except in a performance.
Why doescamminaretake avere, and notessere? Maybe because it is sometimes used with the meaning of “to stroll,” which implies a leisurely walk without any set direction? Or maybe that is just the way it is, and there is no real explanation!
Infinitive Past Participle
camminare
to walk/to proceed/to function
camminato
walked/proceeded/functioned
ballare
to dance
ballato
danced
passeggiare
to stroll/to walk
passseggiato
strolled/walked
nuotare
to swim
nuotato
swam
sciare
to ski
sciato
skiied
pattinare (sul ghiaccio)
to ice skate
pattinato (sul ghiaccio)
ice skated
pattinare (a rotelle)
to roller skate
pattinato (a rotelle)
roller skated
fare windsurf
to windsurf
fatto windsurf
windsurfed
“Ho nuotatocon Giulia e qualche amica che abbiamo incontrato là.” “I swam with Julia and some friends that we met there.”
“Hoanchecamminatomolto sulla spiaggia…” “I also walked a lot on the beach…”
“Vicino al porto c’è la spiaggia pubblica. Abbiamo fattowindsurf.” “Near the port is the public beach. We went windsurfing.”
“Doposiamo andati a ballarein una piccola discoteca vicino. Abbiamo ballatofino alle due di mattina.” “Afterward, we went to dance in a small club nearby. We danced until 2 a.m. It was a lot of fun!”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Passato Prossimo Action Verb CorrereTakes Either EssereorAvere
Correrewill takeessereif one is runningtowarda destination. If one is runningwithouta destination,correrewill takeavere.
“Lui è corso a casa sua.”for“He ran to his house.”vs.“Lui ha corso.”for“He ran.”
Infinitive Past Participle
correre
to run
corso (a)(i,e)
ran
…equalche voltaho corso un po’sul lungomare dietro l’appartamento. Una mattinasono corsaal porto di Ragusa per incontrare i miei amici.”
…and several times, I ran a bit along the boardwalk in back of the apartment. One morning, I ran to the port of Ragusa to meet my friends.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Passato Prossimo Action Verbs of Starting/Finishing Take Either EssereorAvere
The following two verbs,cominciareandiniziare, which both mean “to begin,” andfinire, which means “to finish,” can useeitheressereoravereas their helping verb with thepassato prossimopast tense.
Which helping verb to use? This will depend on the situation. In linguistic terms, these verbs are considered transitive and intransitive.* But who can remember this?
Use this trick to help you to remember whether to useavereoressere. When the subject is a person or group of people that has started or finished something, and the “something” is mentionedafter the verb(as a direct object), useavere. Otherwise, useessere.
So,“Io ho finito il libro,” “Tu hai finito il libro,”and“Lei/lui ha finito il libro,”meansI, you, he/she has finished the book.
But “Il film è finito”means “The film is finished.”
Notice that in the last example, the verb itself completes the sentence and refers back to the subject.* ++
Infinitive Past Participle
cominciare
to start
cominciato (a)(i,e)
began
finire+
to finish
finito (a)(i,e)
finished
iniziare+
to begin
iniziato (a)(i,e)
began
“Ma orahoappenafinitoun caffè e devo preparmi per uscire di casa.” ”But now I have just finished a cup of coffee, and I have to get ready to go out.”
“La storia dell’estateè finitama un altra storia sta per comminciare!” “The summertime story is over, but another story is about to begin!”
*Finireis categorized as transitive in all of the examples except the last, and it is considered intransitive in the last example, but don’t worry about these terms!
++Not to complicate things too much but... One can say,“Io sono finito,”or“Lei è finita,”but unfortunately, the meaning will be that this person’s life has finished or something important in his or her life has “finished them” “for good.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Passato Prossimo Action Verbs of Going Up/Down Take Either EssereorAvere
Some verbs of movement that involve going up or down, such asscendere,salire,orsaltare, takeaverewhen used with a direct object (a thing or place that follows the verb), as in the following examples:
“Ioho scesole scale.” “I went down the stairs.”/“I have gone down the stairs.”
“Ioho salitole scale.” “I went up the stairs.”/“I have gone up the stairs.”
“Oggiho saltatoil pranzo.” “Today I skipped lunch.”/“Today I have skipped lunch.”
Otherwise, if these verbs are followed by a preposition, they useessere:
Luiè scesodall’autobus. He has gotten off the bus.
Luiè salito sull’autobus. He has gotten on the bus.
La ragazzaè saltatain aria dalla gioa. The girl jumped in the air for joy.
Notice that in the last examples, the verb itself completes the sentence and refers back to the subject.*
Infinitive Past Participle
salire*
to go up
salito (a)(i,e)
went up
saltare
to jump to hop, to skip, and to go out/off (electronics)
saltato (a)(i,e)
jumped, hopped, skipped, went out/off
(electronics)
scendere*
to do down
sceso (a)(i,e)
went down
*Scendere, salire,andsaltareare categorized as transitive in the first list of examples, and they are categorized as intransitive in the second, but don’t worry about these terms!
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
The Many Uses for the VerbPassare
The verbpassaremeans“to pass,”as in“to pass through,” “pass by,”“to pass time,”or“to spend time.”This simple verb is used in many ways in English and Italian!
lasciar passare (time)
let (something) pass
allow (something) to pass
lasciar passare (ignore)
let (something) go by
passare alla storia
to go down in history
passare una telephonata
pass the telephone call over to someone
passare una serata insieme
to spend a night together
passare un ordine…
to send instructions (to somebody) to do (something)
passare la palla
to pass the responsibility over (to someone) (lit. to pass the ball)
passare per la testa
(something) comes to mind/to one’s mind/in one’s mind
passare a prendere (qualcuno)
(pass by and) pick (someone) up
passare a far visita
pass by to see (somebody)
drop in to see (somebody)
passare a trovare (qualcuno)
pass by to visit (somebody)
pop in to see (somebody)
passare in ufficio
to drop by the office
passare un attimo da casa
to drop by one’s house for a bit
passare col rosso
go through a red light
Passareis used in the important everyday expression“passare a prendere,”which means “to pick up.”Venireis used withprendereas well, with a slightly different meaning.
“Sei ancora alla stazione? Passerò a prendertiprima del lavoro.” “Are you still at the station? I will pick you up before work.”
“Può venirealla stazionea prendermi?” “Can you (polite) come to the station and get me?”
We can “pass” something to someone else, such asthe telephoneorcell phone (il telefono, il cellulare, il telefonino)orthe telephone call (la telefonata). If speaking Italian in the past tense, we must useavereas our helping verb.
“Quanto tempoè passato!”ha detto Maria ad Anna, dopo che Carlole ha passatoil cellulare. “How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone.
If we are doing something “to pass the time,” we must useavereas our past tense helping verb.
“Siamo arrivate a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosiho passatola notte a casa di Giulia.” “We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”
Time can “pass by” all by itself, so we must useessereas our past tense helping verb.
“Quanto tempoè passato!” ha detto Maria ad Anna, dopo che Carlo leha passato il cellulare. “How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone. “I am so happy to hear from you!”
If a person “passes by/passes through,” we must useessereas our past tense helping verb.
“Ma Giovanniè passatodavanti a me e l’ho riconosciuto.” “But John passed by in front of me, and I recognized him.”
Finally, the reflexive verbpassarsiis used to mean“to exchange”something between people and is interchangeable withscambiarsi. Both verbs takeesserein the past tense, of course, because they are reflexive!
“Allora,ci siamo passatii numeri di telefono e resteremo in contatto d’ora in poi.” “Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will remain in contact from now on.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Past Progressive Tense Verbs That TakeStare
Occasionally, we may want to emphasize that a particular action isgoing on at the exact same time as the conversationthat is taking place. In this case, we would use the present progressive tense, or “-ing” tense, as we do so often in English.
In Italian, this tense is expressed with the verbstareand the gerund of the action verb. This is easier than it may seem at first because the gerunds are almost all regular for all three conjugations. Also, the second and third conjugations are identical!
To form the gerund, just drop the–are, –ere,or –ireinfinitive ending and add the following endings:
Forming the Gerund
Verbs that end in–are
stem+ ando
Verbs that end in –ereor–ire
stem+ endo
Conjugatestareto reflect the speaker, add the gerund, and you have made the present progressive tense of the verb!
For the past tense progressive form, simply conjugatestarein theimperfettopast tense and follow with the gerund. Luckily,stareis regular in theimperfettoform!
Here are all the forms of the present progressive and past progressive tenses using the verbpreparare. Notice that the accent falls on the second to last syllable of the gerund, which is underlined.
Stare preparare –to be preparing
io
sto
stavo
preparando
Iam/was preparing
tu
stai
stavi
preparando
you (familiar) are/were preparing
Lei
lei/lui
sta
stava
preparando
you (polite) are/were preparing
she/he is/was preparing
noi
stiamo
stavamo
preparando
we are/were preparing
voi
state
stavate
preparando
you all are/were preparing
loro
stanno
stavano
preparando
they are/were preparing
“Una mattina, mentre Francesccastava preparandola prima colazione per se stessa e suo figlio che si chiama Carlo, i due hanno sentito lo squillo del cellulare.”
“One morning, while Frances was preparing breakfast for herself and her son Carl, they heard the cell phone ring.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Past Tense – Trapassato Prossimo
When talking about something in the past, we may at times refer to another event that has taken place even further in the past. In this case, the verb form used is thetrapassato prossimo. So there is another Italian past tense to learn! But don’t despair! The use and verb structure is the same as for thepassato prossimo!
Hint for use: Whenever we say “had” in English, use thetrapassato prossimoin Italian.
To form the compound verb for thetrapassato prossimo, instead of using present tenseavereoresserefor the helping verb, simply substitute theimperfettopast tense form of these verbs. Then add the past participle. That’s all there is to it! Here are some examples from our dialogue:
“EraAnna, la figlia di Francesca, cheeraappenatornatadalla vacanza in Sicilia!” “It was Ann, Frances’s daughter, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily!”
“Francesca aveva ricevuto qualche messaggio da Anna sul cellulare, ma non si erano parlate a telefono per tre settimane.” “Frances had received some texts from Anna on the (her) cell phone, but they had not spoken to each other on the phone for three weeks.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Prepositions for Riding in/Getting in/Getting out of Vehicles
When one is riding in a train or another vehicle, the simple use of the preposition“in”will suffice for English and Italian. Travelers sometimes describe going or coming somewhere“by”train in English, but the preposition in Italian will not deviate from the usual“in.”
Anna ha continuato a parlare: “Verrò ad Avezzanointreno e sarò alla stazione alle quatordici.”
Anna continued (to talk): “I will come to Avezzanobytrain and will be at the station at 2 p.m.
However, Italian prepositions will change for cars versus other forms of transportation when one describes the act ofgetting inthe vehicle. The same prepositions will be used forgetting outof any vehicle, however.
To follow are some examples. Notice how the prepositionssu(on)andda(from/out of)are combined with the different forms ofthe (il, l’,orla).
How well do you know how to use the Italianpassato prossimo and past tense? Do you remember when to use theimperfettopast tense? And the verbesserci? Fill in the blanks for the verbs in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, then check your work with the dialogue in the first section. If you like, write a story about an Italian beach vacation of your own!
Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone
Una mattina, mentre Francescca ________________________ la prima colazione per se stessa e suo figlio che si chiama Carlo, i due ___________________ lo squillo del cellulare.
One morning, while Frances was preparing breakfast for herself and her son Carl, they heard the cell phone ring.
Carlo ________, “Rispondo io, “e ____________” verso al soggiorno. _________________________ il cellulare dal tavolino e ___________________________.
Carl said, “I’ll get it (I’ll answer it),” and headed over to the living room. He took the cell phone from the end table and answered (it).
“Pronto,” ___________. “Chi è? Chi parla?” E dopo: “Anna! Come stai? _____________.”
“Hello,” he said. “Who is it? Who’s calling (lit. speaking)?” And after, “Anna! How are you? I’ll get (pass the phone to) mom for you.”
____Anna, la figlia di Francesca, che __________________ dalla vacanza in Sicilia!
It was Anna, Frances’s daughter, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily!
Francesca ______________ qualche messaggio da Anna sul cellulare, ma non __________________ a telefono per tre settimane.
Frances had received some texts from Anna on the cell phone, but they had not spoken to each other on the phone for three weeks.
“Quanto tempo ________________________________!” ha detto Maria ad Anna, dopo che Carlo _____________________ il cellulare. “Sono molto contenta di sentirti!”
“How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone. “I am so happy to hear from you!”
“Mamma! Sono solo tre settimane!” ___________________________ Anna a Francesca.
“Mom! (Up until now it) is only three weeks!”(English: has been only) said Anna to Frances.
“Lo so. Dimmi! Dove sei? Perché non ______________ a casa? Sei ancora alla stazione? ______________________ prima del lavoro.”
“I know. Tell me! Where are you? Why haven’t you come home? Are you still at the station? I will pick you up before work.”
“Stai calma, mamma!”_____________________ Anna. “___________________ a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ________________________ la notte a casa di Giulia.”
“Calm down, mom!” Anna said. “We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”
Anna _________________________________: “Verrò ad Avezzano in treno e sarò alla stazione alle quattordici. Chi _________________________________________ alla stazione, tu or Carlo?”
Anna continued (to talk): “I will come to Avezzano by train and will be at the station at 2 p.m. Who can come to pick me up at the station, you or Carl?”
“Questo pomeriggio sarà in ufficio, ma Carlo ________________________________ a casa in macchina sua.”
“This afternoon I will be at the office, but Carl can take you home in his car.”
“________________,” ____________________ Carlo, che __________________ la conversazione. “Non preoccuparti!”
“I will be there,” said Carl, who had heard the conversation. “Don’t worry!”
“No. Non ______________ a casa questa settimana. _________________________ a Milano.”
“No. He’s not at home this week. He had to go to Milan.”
“Dimmi un po’ della tua vacanza. _____________ bel tempo? _____________ bella la spiaggia in Sicilia? E come ______________ l’appartamento della famiglia di Giulia?”
“Tell me a little bit about your vacation. Was the weather nice? Was the beach nice in Sicily? And how was Julia’s family’s apartment?”
“______________ molto sole, naturalmente! _______________________ in Sicilia! La spiaggia _________________molto bella. Mi piace molto la zona di Ragusa, lo sai. _______________ molte foto via SMS. Non ____________________________?”
“It was very sunny, naturally! We were in Sicily! The beach was very beautiful. I love the area around Ragusa, you know. I texted a lot of photos to you. Didn’t you receive them?”
“Si, le ho ricivute. Ma che hai fatto per tutti quei giorni sulla spiaggia?”
“Yes, _____________________. But what ___________________ for all those days on the beach?”
“_________________________ il sole. _____________________________ molto. _________________ con Giulia e qualche amica che _________________________________ là.”
“I relaxed a lot. I swam with Julia and some friends that we met there.”
“Li conosco, questi amici?”
“Do I know these friends?”
“Ne conosci solamento uno. Ricordi Giovanni che ________________________ all’università di Roma?”
“You know only one of them. Do you remember John whom I met at college in Rome?”
“No. Non me lo recordo affatto.”
“No. I really don’t remember him.”
“È un tipo corto ma magro… con i capelli neri. In ogni caso, ___________________________ per caso sulla spiaggia. ________________________________ tre ragazzi vicino a me. Ma Giovanni _________________________ davanti a me e _________________________________.”
“He is the short type but thin… with black hair. In any case, I met him by chance on the beach. There were three guys near me. But John passed by in front of me, and I recognized him.”
“_____________________________ subito, perché lui ___________________________ quando ______________________________ a scuola insieme.”
“I recognized him right away, because I really liked him when we were at school together.”
“Veramente? Non _________________________ di lui prima.”
“Really? You never talked to me about him before.”
“Allora, _________________________ i numeri di telefono e resteremo in contatto d’ora in poi.”
“Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will remain in contact from now on.”
“Va bene!Qual cos’altro è successo?” “Very well! What else happened?”
“_________________________________ molto sulla spiaggia e qualche volta ___________________ un po’ sul lungomare dietro dell’appartamento. Una mattina ___________________ al porto di Ragusa per incontrari i miei amici.”
“I also walked a lot on the beach, and several times I ran a bit along the boardwalk in back of the apartment. One morning, I ran to the port of Ragusa to meet my friends.”
“Che hai fatto al porto?”
“What did you do at the port?”
“Vicino al porto _____________________ la spiaggia pubblica. _________________________ windsurf.”
“Near the port is the public beach. We went windsurfing.”
“Meraviglioso! Lo so che ti piace molto fare windsurf.”
“Great! I know that you really like windsurfing.”
“E uno dei nostri amici ha una barca. Alcune sere _____________________________ in barca fino alle nove di sera e ______________________________ il tramonto sul mare.”
“And one of our friends has a boat. Some nights we stayed in the boat until 9 p.m. and watched the sunset from the sea.”
“Molto bello!”
“Very nice!”
“Un altra sera io e Giulia ________________________________ al ristorante a Scicli. Giovanni e un ragazzo che si chiama Paolo __________________________ lì. Il ristorante ________________ sottoterra, in una grotta, con le candele accesse sulle tavole.______________ molto romantico.”
“Another night, Julia and I went to a restaurant in Scicli. John and a guy called Paul took us there. The restaurant was underground, in a grotto, with candles on the tables. It was very romantic.”
“Dopo __________________________ in un piccolo discoteca vicino. _______________________ fino alle due di mattina. ____________________ molto divertente!”
“Afterward, we went to dance in a small club nearby. We danced until 2 a.m. It was a lot of fun!”
“Mi sembra di si!”
“It seems like it was!”
“_______________________ altrodella storia di Giovanni e me. Ma ora _____________________ un caffè e devo preparmi per uscire di casa. Ci parliamo più tardi.”
“There’s more to the story about John and me. But now I have just finished a cup of coffee, and I have to get ready to go out. We’ll talk more later.”
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area. “Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy!Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC
Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone
Speak Italian like a nativewhen you use the Italian verb “Passare” !
