Table of Contents
You now know both Italian past tenses. This lesson answers the question every learner asks: which one do I use? English has only one simple past (“I ate”, “it rained”), so this choice is new for English speakers. The good news: there is a clear logic, and with a bit of practice choosing becomes automatic.
The main idea
Imagine you are telling a story about a movie.
Passato Prossimo is the action on the screen: things that happened, one after another, and finished. He came in. She said hello. They left.
Imperfetto is the scenery behind the action: what things looked like, what the weather was, what people were doing when the main events happened.
Ieri sono andato al parco (action). Faceva caldo e c’erano molte persone (scenery) – Yesterday I went to the park. It was hot and there were many people.
Three practical tests
Test 1: Can you count it or put it on a timeline? If the action happened a specific number of times or at a specific moment, use Passato Prossimo:
Ieri ho chiamato mia madre due volte – Yesterday I called my mother twice
Sono arrivato alle nove – I arrived at nine
Test 2: Would English say “used to” or “would always”? Then it’s Imperfetto:
Da bambino mangiavo troppi dolci – As a child I ate (used to eat) too many sweets
Ogni sabato andavamo al mercato – Every Saturday we went (would go) to the market
Test 3: Is it a description (age, weather, feelings, appearance)? Imperfetto:
Avevo paura – I was afraid
Era tardi e non c’era nessuno – It was late and there was nobody around
The classic combination: one tense interrupts the other
The most common pattern in real speech is Imperfetto + Passato Prossimo in one sentence: a long background action (Imperfetto) gets interrupted by a short event (Passato Prossimo):
Dormivo quando hai chiamato – I was sleeping when you called
Mentre cucinavo, è arrivato Marco – While I was cooking, Marco arrived
Camminavamo per la strada quando abbiamo visto l’incidente – We were walking down the street when we saw the accident
Some verbs change their meaning
With a few verbs the tense changes the translation. The verbs below are sapere (to know), conoscere (to know a person) and volere (to want). Two of them get a full lesson of their own a bit later in the course; for now you only need to recognize their past forms:
Sapevo la risposta – I knew the answer (a state)
Ho saputo la notizia ieri – I found out the news yesterday (an event)
Conoscevo Maria – I knew Maria
Ho conosciuto Maria a una festa – I met Maria at a party
Volevo aiutare – I wanted to help (maybe I did, maybe not)
Ho voluto aiutare – I insisted on helping (and did it)
Examples
Quando ero studente, non avevo soldi – When I was a student, I had no money
Ieri sera abbiamo cenato in un ristorante – Last night we had dinner in a restaurant
Il ristorante era piccolo e la musica era molto bella – The restaurant was small and the music was very nice
Mangiavo la pasta ogni giorno, ma un giorno ho deciso di cambiare – I ate pasta every day, but one day I decided to change
Perché non hai risposto? Dormivo – Why didn’t you answer? I was sleeping
Leggeva il giornale quando è entrata sua moglie – He was reading the newspaper when his wife came in
Vocabulary
| volta – time (one time, two times)
dolce – sweet, dessert tardi – late presto – early nessuno – nobody soldi – money |
notizia – news
festa – party incidente – accident camminare – to walk decidere (deciso) – to decide cambiare – to change |
Exercises
Choose the right past tense: Passato Prossimo or Imperfetto
- Ieri io ______________ un libro interessante (COMPRARE) – Yesterday I bought an interesting book
- Da giovane mia madre ______________ molto bella (ESSERE) – When she was young, my mother was very beautiful
- Mentre noi ______________, tu hai telefonato (PRANZARE) – While we were having lunch, you phoned
- Ogni estate loro ______________ in Sicilia (ANDARE) – Every summer they used to go to Sicily
- Sabato scorso noi ______________ al cinema (ANDARE) – Last Saturday we went to the cinema
- Che tempo ______________ ieri? (FARE) – What was the weather like yesterday?
- Io ______________ Maria due anni fa (CONOSCERE) – I met Maria two years ago
- Quando tu ______________ dieci anni, dove abitavi? (AVERE) – When you were ten, where did you live?
- Improvvisamente il telefono ______________ (SQUILLARE) – Suddenly the phone rang
- Non ______________ perché tutti ridevano (io, CAPIRE) – I didn’t understand why everybody was laughing
Answers:
1: ho comprato; 2: era; 3: pranzavamo; 4: andavano; 5: siamo andati; 6: faceva; 7: ho conosciuto; 8: avevi; 9: ha squillato; 10: capivo