Passato Prossimo with essere

What is the Passato Prossimo?

The passato prossimo is the most common past tense in spoken Italian. It describes actions completed in the recent past or actions that have a connection to the present. It is formed with two parts: an auxiliary verb (avere or essere) + the past participle of the main verb. In this lesson we focus on verbs that use ESSERE as the auxiliary.

When to Use essere as the Auxiliary

Use ESSERE with: (1) Intransitive verbs of motion or change of state — verbs where the subject moves or changes without acting on a direct object. (2) Reflexive verbs (mi sono alzato, si è svegliata). The key test: if the verb cannot take a direct object, it almost always uses essere. A helpful mnemonic is the 'DRIVEVAN' group or simply memorising the core list. When in doubt, check whether the verb describes going, coming, arriving, leaving, being born, dying, becoming, remaining, or staying.

Past Participle Agreement with essere

This is the most important rule when using essere: the past participle MUST agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb, exactly like an adjective. There are four forms for most participles ending in -ato, -uto, or -ito: masculine singular (-o), feminine singular (-a), masculine plural (-i), feminine plural (-e). When a group is mixed (males and females), use the masculine plural form.

• Marco è andato al lavoro. — Marco went to work. (m.sg.→ -o)
• Maria è andata al supermercato. — Maria went to the supermarket. (f.sg.→ -a)
• I ragazzi sono arrivati tardi. — The boys arrived late. (m.pl.→ -i)
• Le ragazze sono arrivate presto. — The girls arrived early. (f.pl.→ -e)
• Marco e Maria sono usciti insieme. — Marco and Maria went out together. (mixed→ -i)
• Mio nonno è nato nel 1940. — My grandfather was born in 1940.
• Mia nonna è morta l'anno scorso. — My grandmother died last year.
• Sono stato a Roma per tre giorni. — I was in Rome for three days. (male speaker)
• Sono stata a Roma per tre giorni. — I was in Rome for three days. (female speaker)

essere vs avere: How to Choose

Verbs that take a direct object (transitive verbs) use AVERE: ho mangiato una pizza, ho lavorato, ho dormito. Verbs of motion or state that cannot take a direct object (intransitive) use ESSERE: sono andato, sono arrivata, è partito. Note that with avere the past participle does NOT agree with the subject (it stays in its base -o form unless preceded by a direct object pronoun). With essere the participle ALWAYS agrees. Common mistakes to avoid: 'ho andato' is WRONG (correct: sono andato); 'sono mangiato' is WRONG (correct: ho mangiato).