A reader recently asked me to explain how the participio passato (past participle) works when it is used with essere (to be) or avere (to have). This is a useful topic both for beginners, and for more advanced students who need to do some revision.

1 – Essere:

When used with essere, the past participle agrees with the subject, i.e. it changes its ending to o,a,i, or e depending on the gender and number of the subject. Here are some examples which illustrate how this works. In the examples given below I have highlighted the subject in red:

Masculine singular – Giorgio è andato a sciare (Giorgio went skiing)

Feminine singular – Ieri, Lucia è andata al mercato (Lucia went to the market yesterday)

Masculine plural – L’anno scorso siamo andati in Spagna (last year we went to Spain)

Feminine plural – Maria e Giovanna sono andate al cinema (Maria and Giovanna went to the cinema)

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2 – Avere:

When used with avere, the past participle does not change except when a direct object pronoun – lo, la, li, or le -  comes before the verb.

The first four examples show how it works without the direct object pronoun:

Masculine singular – Giorgio ha comprato un paio di sci (Giorgio bought a pair of skis)

Feminine singular – Lucia ha comprato le verdure (Lucia bought the vegetables)

Masculine plural – L’anno scorso abbiamo visitato la Spagna (Last year we visited Spain)

Feminine plural – Maria e Giovanna hanno visto l’ultimo film di Verdone ieri (Maria e Giovanna saw Verdone’s latest film yesterday)

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Now four examples of the past participle with avere and the direct object pronouns, lo, la, li and le. In this case it is the direct object – film, sci, Spagna, verdure - which dictates whether the past participle has a masculine, feminine, singular, or plural ending:

Masculine singular – Question: Hai visto l’ultimo film di Verdone? Reply: Si lo ho visto ieri (Have you seen Verdone’s latest film? – Yes I saw it yesterday)

Masculine plural – Question: Dove hai comprato gli sci? Reply: Li ho comprati a Milano (Where did you buy the skis? – I bought them in Milano)

Feminine singular – Question: Hai mai visitato la Spagna? Reply: Si la ho visitata l’anno scorso (Have you ever visited Spain – yes I visited it last year)

Feminine plural – Question: Dove hai comprato le verdure? Reply: Le ho comprate al mercato (Where did you buy the vegetables? – I bought them from  the market)

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The following examples demonstrate how the past participle functions with avere and  ‘ne’ when the latter is used as a direct object to mean ‘of it‘ or ‘of them’:

Masculine singular – Question: Quanto pane hai comprato? Reply: Ne ho comprato un kilo (How much bread have you bought? – I’ve bought a kilo of it)

Masculine plural – Question: Quanti libri hai dato a Giorgio? Reply: Gliene ho dati tre (How many books did you give to Giorgio – I gave him three of them)

Feminine singular – Question: Quanta farina hai comprato? Reply: Ne ho comprata un kilo (How much flour did you buy? – I bought a kilo of it)

Feminine plural – Question: Quante fette di torta hai mangiato? Reply: Ne ho mangiate due (How many slices of cake have you eaten? – I’ve eaten two of them)

In conjunction with this article you may also find it useful to read the following two blogs: transitive and intransitive verbs and ‘ne’