The storytelling past
In Italian novels, history books and fairy tales you meet verb forms nobody has taught you yet: fu, disse, andò, scrissero. That is the passato remoto. It is a simple tense: one word, no auxiliary, no participle, much like the English past simple (he said, she went). It tells what is finished and no longer connected to the present.
This is what it sounds like
Nel 1861 Vittorio Emanuele II divenne re d'Italia.
In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II became king of Italy.
Mia nonna nacque in un paese vicino a Lecce.
My grandmother was born in a village near Lecce.
Aprì la porta, guardò dentro e non disse niente.
He opened the door, looked inside and said nothing.
The regular endings
Three conjugations, three sets of endings. The stem is the same as in the present tense: parl-, cred-, part-. In the io and lui forms the stress falls on the last syllable, which is why parlò and partì carry an accent. Regular -ere verbs have an equivalent second set for io, lui and loro: credetti, credette, credettero.
parlare, credere, partire
| Person | parlare | credere | partire |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | parlai | credei | partii |
| tu | parlasti | credesti | partisti |
| lui / lei | parlò | credé | partì |
| noi | parlammo | credemmo | partimmo |
| voi | parlaste | credeste | partiste |
| loro | parlarono | crederono | partirono |
The regular forms
Regular forms in a sentence
Ci parlammo per l'ultima volta nel 2009.
We spoke to each other for the last time in 2009.
I miei nonni partirono per l'Argentina con due valigie.
My grandparents left for Argentina with two suitcases.
Nessuno gli credette, e lui non insistette.
Nobody believed him, and he did not insist.
The 1-3-3 principle
Most irregular verbs are not irregular all the way through, only in three of six forms: io, lui and loro. They use a stem of their own, here scris-. The other three forms, tu, noi and voi, are built regularly from the infinitive stem.
scrivere
| Person | Form | Stem |
|---|---|---|
| io | scrissi | special stem |
| tu | scrivesti | infinitive stem |
| lui / lei | scrisse | special stem |
| noi | scrivemmo | infinitive stem |
| voi | scriveste | infinitive stem |
| loro | scrissero | special stem |
Two stems in one paradigm
Both stems inside one sentence
Gli scrissi due volte, ma voi non scriveste mai.
I wrote to him twice, but you never wrote.
Prendemmo il treno delle sei e lui prese quello dopo.
We took the six o'clock train and he took the next one.
Non vedeste niente, ma loro videro tutto.
You saw nothing, but they saw everything.
The most important irregular verbs
The irregular io forms fall into a few groups: with -s- or -ss- (presi, scrissi, vissi), with a doubled consonant (volli, seppi, venni, caddi) and with -qu- (nacqui, piacqui). A few, like vidi, feci and diedi, you simply have to remember. These verbs are the ones you will meet most often.
io form, then lui and loro
essere → fui
be — fu, furono
avere → ebbi
have — ebbe, ebbero
fare → feci
do, make — fece, fecero
dire → dissi
say — disse, dissero
dare → diedi
give — diede, diedero
stare → stetti
stay, be (located) — stette, stettero
vedere → vidi
see — vide, videro
venire → venni
come — venne, vennero
volere → volli
want — volle, vollero
sapere → seppi
know, find out — seppe, seppero
prendere → presi
take — prese, presero
scrivere → scrissi
write — scrisse, scrissero
leggere → lessi
read — lesse, lessero
mettere → misi
put — mise, misero
nascere → nacqui
be born — nacque, nacquero
vivere → vissi
live — visse, vissero
Essere, dare, stare: irregular throughout
With these three verbs 1-3-3 does not help, because tu, noi and voi have a stem of their own too. Avere and fare, on the other hand, follow the principle: ebbi, avesti, ebbe, avemmo, aveste, ebbero and feci, facesti, fece, facemmo, faceste, fecero.
essere, dare, stare
| Person | essere | dare | stare |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | fui | diedi | stetti |
| tu | fosti | desti | stesti |
| lui / lei | fu | diede | stette |
| noi | fummo | demmo | stemmo |
| voi | foste | deste | steste |
| loro | furono | diedero | stettero |
The three verbs that are irregular throughout
The forms you will meet most often
Fu un errore, e lo capimmo subito.
It was a mistake, and we realised it at once.
Non ebbe il coraggio di dirglielo.
He did not have the courage to tell her.
Fecero tutto da soli, senza chiedere niente a nessuno.
They did everything on their own, without asking anyone for anything.
