Two pasts for the same action
Andò a Roma and è andato a Roma both mean “he went to Rome”. Both are correct, but they are not interchangeable. English only partly helps: the passato prossimo is not just the English present perfect, it often translates the simple past too (I went = sono andato). The choice depends on the distance between the event and the speaker.
The same event, two attitudes
Mio nonno è morto tre anni fa.
My grandfather died three years ago. (it still affects me)
Suo nonno morì durante la guerra.
His grandfather died during the war. (a closed episode)
Not the clock, but the distance
The choice does not hang on a time limit such as “after five years”. What matters is whether you tell the event as part of your present world or as a closed chapter. Time expressions help: oggi, stamattina, quest'anno go with the passato prossimo, nel 1948, secoli fa, ai tempi di with the passato remoto.
Time expressions that help decide
Stamattina ho perso il treno.
This morning I missed the train.
Quest'anno siamo stati in Sardegna due volte.
This year we have been to Sardinia twice.
Dante scrisse la Commedia in esilio.
Dante wrote the Commedia in exile.
Nel 1969 l'uomo arrivò sulla Luna.
In 1969 man landed on the Moon.
The map
The standard rule describes written Italian. In speech the boundary shifts from region to region, and considerably so. This is not carelessness but a long-established regional norm.
Three speech areas
North — Milan, Turin, Venice
Hardly ever in conversation. Even distant events, the Second World War included, take the passato prossimo. Northerners meet the passato remoto almost only when reading.
Mio bisnonno è nato nel 1901.
My great-grandfather was born in 1901.
Centre — Tuscany, Rome
Here the textbook rule applies most literally: near events in the passato prossimo, distant ones in the passato remoto.
South — Naples, Sicily, Calabria
Everyday speech. The passato remoto is used even for events of yesterday or this morning.
Ieri mangiai una pizza fantastica.
Yesterday I ate a fantastic pizza.
everyday in the South, odd in the North
Written and spoken
Whatever the region, there are text types in which the passato remoto is the standard. Use the passato prossimo there and you sound like a school essay.
Two worlds
Where the passato remoto appears
Novels, fairy tales, history books, biographies, guidebooks, museum texts.
C'era una volta un re che ebbe tre figlie.
Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters.
La chiesa fu costruita nel Trecento e venne restaurata due volte.
The church was built in the fourteenth century and restored twice.
Where the passato prossimo appears
Conversations, messages, emails, phone calls, daily newspapers, anything personal.
Ti ho scritto ieri sera, non hai visto il messaggio?
I wrote to you last night, didn't you see the message?
Il governo ha approvato la legge questa mattina.
The government passed the law this morning.
Within one text you stay with one choice. A switch only makes sense when it means something, for example the jump from the closed story to the narrator's present.
The deliberate switch
L'azienda aprì nel 1955; da allora ha cambiato sede tre volte.
The company opened in 1955; since then it has moved three times.
And the imperfetto?
The imperfetto is untouched by this question. It paints the background, in the North and the South, spoken and written. Only the event next to it takes the passato remoto or the passato prossimo, depending on your attitude.
Background plus event
Pioveva quando uscì di casa.
It was raining when he left the house. (narrative)
Pioveva quando sono uscito di casa.
It was raining when I left the house. (this morning)
