September 23

Intermediate Italian course

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Italian language School Manchester

This is a FREE Italian lesson for all Italian students studying at intermediate level. I know Passato Prossimo isn’t easy to understand. I hope you find this Italian grammar lesson useful.  If you already speak Italian (Italian GCSE or Italian A level) and want to maintain your level of knowledge. I do run two Intermediate Italian Classes in Didsbury and Chorlton if you want to find out more: hello at learnitalianmanchester.co.uk

Conjugating regular Italian verbs in the Passato Prossimo

The Passato Prossimo is most often used like what we would call the “Simple Past” or “Present Perfect”. It is formed by using either the verb essere or avere in the present tense followed by the past participle of the verb you want to use. For Example if you wanted to say “I ate” you would first conjugate avere in the present tense and then follow it with mangiato, the past participle for mangiare. With the subject pronoun included it would look like this;

Io ho mangiato (I ate or I have eaten) 

Regular past participles are easy to form. You simple remove the infinitive ending and apply the past participle ending as shown below;

Verbs ending in ARE use ATO, for example; mangiare – are = mangi + ato = mangiato
Verbs ending in ERE use UTO, for example; credere – ere = cred + uto = creduto
Verbs ending in IRE use ITO, for example; finire – ire = fin + ito = finito

There are many verbs that use an irregular past participle. These you will need to commit to memory and many of these can be found on pages 54 & 55 of Italian Verb Drills by Paola Nanni-Tate I like to use math equations as an example but first here are the past participle endings for all regular verbs;

Verbs ending in AREato Verbs ending in EREuto Verbs ending in IREito

To conjugate the regular ARE verbs in the passato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending) = conjugated verb. Example;
Abbiamo (to have for we) + [Parlare (To Speak) – are = Parl + ato (past pariciple ending)] = Abbiamo Parlato (We spoke or we have spoken) 

Parlare conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro
Ho parlato
Hai parlato
Ha parlato
Abbiamo parlato
Avete parlato
Hanno parlato
I spoke or have spoken
You spoke or have spoken
He/She/It spoke or has spoken
We spoke or have spoken
Y’all spoke or have spoken
They spoke or have spoken

To conjugate the regular ERE verbs in the passato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending) = conjugated verb. Example;
Abbiamo (to have for we) + [Credere (To Believe) – ere = Cred + uto (past pariciple ending)] = Abbiamo Creduto (We believed or we have believed) 

Credere conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro
Ho creduto
Hai creduto
Ha creduto
Abbiamo creduto
Avete creduto
Hanno creduto
I believed or have believed
You believed or have believed
He/She/It believed or has believed
We believed or have believed
Y’all believed or have believed
They believed or have believed

To conjugate the regular IRE verbs in thepassato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending) = conjugated verb. Example;
Abbiamo (to have for we) + [Sentire (To Hear) – ire = Sent + ito (past pariciple ending)] = Abbiamo Sentito (We heard or we have heard) 

Sentire conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro
Ho sentito
Hai sentito
Ha sentito
Abbiamo sentito
Avete sentito
Hanno sentito
I heard or have heard
You heard or have heard
He/She/It heard or has heard
We heard or have heard
Y’all heard or have heard
They heard or have heard

 

Choosing the correct auxiliary verb when using Passato Prossimo
Regarding auxiliary verb selection for the Passato Prossimo:
1. All transitive verbs (the verbs which can take a direct object…) use the auxiliary avere. 
2. All reflexive verbs use the auxiliary essere …
 
3. Intrasitive verbs … can use avere or essere …

Due to the third point, some memory work is required to determine which verbs use essere. You can find a list of common verbs conjugated with Essere in the Passato Prossimo on page 53 of the book Verb Drills by Paola Nanni-Tate

It is important to note here than when you use a verb in the Passato Prossimo with the verb essere, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number. For example the verb andare or “to go”

Lui è andato (he went) or Lei è andata (she went)
Gli uomini sono andanti (the men went) or Le donne sono andate (the women went)

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About Learn Italian Manchester: My name is Amedea and I’m a native Italian tutor with a real passion for my language. I run Italian classes in Manchester which are sociable, fun and designed to teach you Italian you will really use. As well as Italian courses in Manchester I teach 1 to 1 Italian lessons and cover areas including Manchester City Centre,Didsbury, Chorlton, Sale, Altrincham, Hale, Woodford, Bramhall and others. I also run Italian cookery classes: fresh pasta, Italian vegetarian food, cookery classes for busy people, Italian style cocktail masterclasses and more. If you would like to do something new, learn to speak Italian and make new friends along the way! Contact me at: hello@learnitalianmanchester.co.uk

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