Posts tagged with "passato prossimo"

Passato Prossimo – Le Soluzioni

Posted by Serena 4 Comments
Sep 30 2011

Here are the solutions and translations for Wednesday’s exercise about the Passato Prossimo. I have also given an explanation of how to conjugate the key verbs used in the passato prossimo  

1. Lo scorso fine settimana io e Geoff siamo andati a Siena, una delle nostre gite preferite. Per prima cosa abbiamo passeggiato per il centro storico per ammirare questa stupenda città medievale, poi abbiamo visitato il bellissimo Duomo e la magica Piazza del Campo. Siccome ci sentivamo in forma siamo saliti sulla Torre del Mangia da dove ci siamo goduti il vastissimo panorama. Dopo aver risceso i 503 scalini della Torre ed essere tornati giù nella piazza, ci era venuta un po’ di fame così abbiamo assaggiato il famoso Panforte e altri dolci tipici senesi. Insommma, ci siamo divertiti molto.

Last week Geoff and I went to Siena, one of our favourite trips. First of all we strolled around the historic centre to admire this splendid town, then we visited its beautiful cathedral and the magical Piazza del Campo. Since we felt in good shape we climbed the Torre del Mangia, from where we enjoyed the vast panorama. Having come down the 503 steps of the Tower and arrived back at the square, we felt a bit hungry so we sampled the famous Panforte and other sweets typical of Siena. In short, we really had a good time.

2. Geoff, come al solito, è andato in giro con la macchina fotografica e ha fatto tante fotografie, mentre io ho comprato alcuni regali da portare agli amici. Poi, per riposarci un poco, siamo andati insieme al bar dove abbiamo preso due cappuccini. Mentre andavamo verso Porta Romana, Geoff si è reso conto di aver lasciato il cappello nel bar, così è tornato indietro a prenderlo. Io ho approfittato dell’occasione e sono ritornata al Palazzo Pubblico dove ho ammirato gli affreschi del Buon governo e del Mal governo. Poi mi sono seduta sulla scalinata ad aspettare Geoff. In conclusione, è stata una bellissima giornata.

Geoff, as usual, went around with his camera and took lots of photos while I bought some presents to take back for friends. Then, to have a little rest, we went to the bar where we both had cappuccino. As we were going towards Porta Romana, Geoff realised that he had forgotten his hat at the bar, so he went back to get it. I took advantage of the situation to go back to the Palazzo Pubblico where I admired the frescos  of the Good Government and the Bad Government. Then I sat on the staircase waiting for Geoff. In conclusion, it was a great day.

N.B. you could use either tornare or ritornare in paragraph 2 without changing the meaning of the story. It’s also possible to use godersi (to enjoy something) instead of ammirare (to admire) as they are both grammatically correct and the meaning is very similar i.e. da dove abbiamo ammirato il vastissimo panorama and dove mi sono goduta gli affreschi.

Now let’s have a look at the complicated matter of how to conjugate these verbs in the passato prossimo

Verbi Transitivi = Transitive Verbs:

Transitive verbs use avere (to have) to form the passato prossimo:

assaggiare (to taste): io ho assaggiato, noi abbiamo assaggiato

fare (to do, to make): io ho fatto, noi abbiamo fatto

comprare (to buy): io ho comprato, noi abbiamo comprato

ammirare (to admire): io ho ammirato, noi abbiamo ammirato

prendere (to take, to have): io ho preso, noi abbiamo preso

visitare (to visit): io ho visitato, noi abbiamo visitato

Verbi Intransitivi = Intransitive Verbs:

Intransitive verbs mostly use essere (to be) to form the passato prossimo although they sometimes use  avere (to have):

andare (to go): io sono andato/a, noi siamo andati/e

passeggiare (to stroll): io ho passeggiato, noi abbiamo passeggiato

salire (to climb): io sono salito/a, noi siamo saliti/e

tornare (to go back, to return): io sono tornato/a, noi siamo tornati/e

ritornare (to go back, to return): io sono ritornato/a, noi siamo ritornati/e

essere (to be): io sono stato/a, noi siamo stati/e

Verbi Riflessivi – Reflexive Verbs:

Reflexive Verbs always use essere (to be) to form the passato prossimo:

divertirsi (to enjoy oneself, to have fun): io mi sono divertito/a, noi ci siamo divertiti/e

godersi (to enjoy something): io mi sono goduto/a, noi ci siamo goduti/e

sedersi (to sit down): io mi sono seduto/a, noi ci siamo seduti/e

You can find out more about transitive verbs and intransitive ones in here: Transitive and intransitive verbs

Passato Prossimo: un Ripasso

Posted by Serena 4 Comments
Sep 28 2011

In a recent blog I looked at the difference in use between the two most common types of past tenses: Passato Prossimo (Present Perfect) and Imperfetto (Imperfect tense). Today I’m going to focus on the Passato Prossimo with a little exercise.

Fill in the gaps in the following two short paragraphs with the correct form of the verbs given in the table below. For example: andare will become sono andato/a or siamo andati/e, and comprare will become either ho comprato or abbiamo comprato

1. Lo scorso fine settimana io e Geoff ____ a Siena, una delle nostre gite preferite. Per prima cosa ____ per il centro storico per ammirare questa stupenda città medievale, poi ____ il bellissimo Duomo e la magica Piazza del Campo. Siccome ci sentivamo in forma ____ sulla Torre del Mangia da dove ____ il vastissimo panorama. Dopo aver risceso i 503 scalini della Torre ed essere tornati giù nella piazza, ci era venuta un po’ di fame così ____ il famoso Panforte e altri dolci tipici senesi. Insommma, ____ molto.

2. Geoff, come al solito, ____ in giro con la macchina fotografica e ____ tante fotografie, mentre io ____ alcuni regali da portare agli amici. Poi, per riposarci un poco, ____ insieme al bar dove ____ due cappuccini. Mentre andavamo verso Porta Romana, Geoff si è reso conto di aver lasciato il cappello nel bar, così ____ indietro a prenderlo. Io ho approfittato dell’occasione e ____ al Palazzo Pubblico dove ____ gli affreschi del Buon governo e del Mal governo. Poi ____ sulla scalinata ad aspettare Geoff. In conclusione, ____ una bellissima giornata.

passeggiare salire prendere
assaggiare divertirsi visitare
andare godersi sedersi
fare tornare essere
ritornare andare andare
comprare ammirare  

Don’t forget to use the correct verbo ausiliare (auxiliary verb), i.e. essere or avere, and to change the past participle (masculine, feminine, singular and plural) where appropriate. You should also remember to insert the appropriate reflexive pronoun when a reflexive verb is used, e.g. godersi will become mi sono goduto/a or ci siamo goduti/e. If you are not sure about how to construct the past tense you might find it useful to refer to this blog:  Imperfetto e Passato Prossimo

P.S. Don’t forget that when I write ‘io’ it refers to me, Serena, therefore it’s in the feminine form.

In the next blog I’ll give you the answers together with the translation, and explanations for some of the more difficult bits.

Forza, coraggio!

Imperfetto e Passato Prossimo – Quale Devo Usare?

Posted by Serena 12 Comments
Aug 8 2011

Occasionally students of Italian tell me that they are confused about whether to use the passato prossimo (present perfect) or the imperfetto (imperfect tense), and don’t really understand the difference between the two. A while ago I wrote a blog on the subject which you can find here: passato prossimo e imperfetto, but I think that it would be useful to revisit the topic in a more practical way by giving you a number of examples in which I’ll demonstrate how the two forms differ. To clarify things, I have highlighted the imperfetto in red, and the passato prossimo in green.

1.Imperfetto or Passato Prossimo:

We use the imperfetto when talking about something that used to happen regularly, something that happened repeatedly, or something that happened over a long but indefinite  period of time. The passato prossimo, on the other hand, is more precise, because it describes something that happened only once, at a very specific time, or for a limited period of time:

Imperfetto: da bambina andavo tutte le estati al mare (when I was a child I used to go to the beach every summer)

Passato Prossimo: l’estate scorsa sono andata al mare (last summer I went to the beach)

Imperfetto: quando ero in Inghilterra abitavo a Nottingham (when I was in England I used to live in Nottingham)

Passato Prossimo: ho abitato a Nottingham per tredici anni (I lived in Nottingham for thirteen years)

Imperfetto: da bambino a Giovanni piaceva il gelato al pistacchio (when Giovanni was a child he used to like pistachio ice cream)

Passato Prossimo: a Giovanni è piaciuto il gelato al pistacchio non appena l’ha assaggiato (Giovanni liked pistachio ice cream as soon as he tasted it)

Imperfetto: quand’eravamo in Inghilterra spesso andavamo a camminare nel Derbyshire (when we were in England we often went walking in Derbyshire)

Passato Prossimo: quand’eravamo in Inghilterra siamo andati a camminare nel Derbyshire un paio di volte (when we were in England we went walking in Derbyshire a couple of times)

Imperfetto: quand’ero all’università studiavo archeologia (when I was at university I studied archaeology)

Passato Prossimo: quand’ero all’università ho studiato archeologia per quattro anni (when I was at university I studied archaeology for four years)

 

2. Imperfetto and Passato Prossimo:

When we want to talk about a specific event we often use both the imperfetto and the  passato prossimo in the same sentence. In this case we use the imperfetto to set the scene, to say what was going on, or to clarify when something happened, and the passato prossimo to recount the specific event:

mentre facevo la spesa dal fruttivendolo è entrata Maria con il suo nuovo ragazzo (while I was shopping at the greengrocer Maria came in with her new boyfriend)

mentre scrivevo il blog ha telefonato Marco (Marco phoned while I was writing the blog)

quando abitavo in Inghilterra un’estate ho visitato la Scozia (when I lived in England I visited Scotland one summer)

Giorgio si è rotto la gamba mentre giocava a calcio (Giorgio broke his leg whilst playing football)

quand’ero all’università ho partecipato a due scavi archeologici (when I was at university I took part in two archaeological excavations)

 

Spero di essere stata chiara (I hope I’ve been clear)

Passato Prossimo e Imperfetto

Posted by Serena 23 Comments
Feb 4 2009

If you’re struggling to understand when to use the present perfect and when it is more appropriate to use the imperfect this blog should help you. In my experience of teaching Italian to English speakers I have found this to be a very common problem. It is equally difficult for Italian people learning English to know when to use the appropriate past tense: is it “I have done” or “I did” or even “I have been doing”? Hmmmm…….anyway, lets have a look at those elusive Italian past tenses.

The passato prossimo, which is usually called the “present perfect” or “perfect” in English grammar, is formed by the auxiliary verb essere or avere followed by the participio passato (past participle): e.g. sono andata (I went), ho fatto (I did). The passato prossimo is the main tense used in Italian to convey an action which has been completed in the past, and is used to translate both the English present perfect and the simple past: e.g.: ho gia’ visto quel film (I have already seen that film), ho visto quel film sabato scorso (I saw that film last Saturday).

The imperfetto (imperfect) is characterized by the sounds -evo, -avo or -ivo e.g. avevo (I had/was having), pensavo (I thought/was thinking), dormivo (I slept/was sleeping) with the exception of the verb essere which is irregular (ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano). The imperfect describes past actions that are incomplete, that is the starting and/or finishing moments are not expressed, are left vague.

Because of its incomplete nature, the imperfetto is used:

1) to describe the way people, objects or places were in the past: e.g. da piccola avevo i capelli ricci (when I was a child I used to have curly hair); era un uomo coraggioso (he was a brave man); la macchina era arrugginita (the car was rusty);

2) to describe situations and factual conditions (this tense is used a lot in literature): e.g. la citta’ era deserta e non si vedevano macchine (the town was empty and there were no cars to be seen); era buio e la pioggia cadeva gentilmente (it was dark and the rain was falling lightly);

3) to describe states of mind or health: e.g. avevo sonno (I was sleepy); gli faceva male la testa (he had an headache); ero triste (I was sad);

4) to describe what used to happen such as habits and repeated actions in the past: e.g. ogni venerdi’ ci incontravamo al bar (every Friday we used to meet at the bar); d’estate andavamo sempre al mare (in the summer we always used to go to the sea); correva alla porta ogni volta che suonava il campanello (he would run to the door every time that the bell rang).

Because of their differences in nature the imperfetto and the passato prossimo can be found together in the same sentence, with the imperfect giving the setting or scenario, and the passato prossimo describing the main action: e.g. mentre guardavo la televisione e’ suonato il telefono (while I was watching television the phone rang); dov’eri quando e’ arrivato Giovanni? (where were you when Giovanni arrived?); quando ci siamo svegliati pioveva (when we woke up it was raining).

N.B. when the exact time or duration of an action is specified, the passato prossimo is used: e.g. Giovanni e’ vissuto in Inghilterra dal 2002 al 2007 (Giovanni lived in England from 2002 to 2007); ho studiato il francese per tre anni (I studied French for three years); Mario ha dormito fino alle 11 (Mario slept until 11 o’clock).

To clarify: we would use the imperfetto to say ‘non sapevo che eri malato’ (I didn’t know that you were ill) because the time is not specified, and the passato prossimo to say ‘solo ieri ho saputo che eri malato’ (I only found out yesterday that you were ill), as the time, ieri, is specified.

For more information on the use of the past tense with da (since) or per (for), see my post Da or Per

Adesso ho finito!

Da or Per?

Posted by Serena 2 Comments
Dec 20 2008

Yesterday, while teaching English to a private student here in Italy, I came across an interesting example in my English grammar book; it said: “John and Ann have been married for 20 years”. My student translated this sentence into Italian word by word as: “John e Ann sono stati sposati per 20 anni”. This is a wonderful example of the difference in use of the past tense in English and Italian. The literal translation made by my student means that John and Ann were married for 20 years, but are not married anymore. How confusing!

In Italian, when we want to express an action that started in the past and is still going on now in the present, we use the simple present tense: John e Ann sono sposati da 20 anni, which translates literally as: John and Ann are married since 20 years, but in reality means that they have been married for 20 years.

The passato prossimo (present perfect) is used to express an action that is finished, e.g. Mauro e Giulia sono stati fidanzati per 3 anni, which translate word by word as “Mauro and Julia have been engaged for 3 years”, but with the English meaning of “they were engaged for 3 years”. Adesso Mauro e Giulia sono sposati da 5 anni literally translates as “now Mauro and Julia are married since 5 years”, but it means that “they have been married for 5 years”.

The other important thing to notice are the prepositions used to express the period of time: per and da. Per, which is normally translated as for, is used to express a period of time that is now concluded: Mauro and Giulia sono stati fidanzati per 3 anni.

Da, meaning literally since or from, is used to express a period of time that includes the present, in other words it still continues: Mauro e Giulia sono sposati da 5 anni. However you need to be careful if da is followed by a or al. In this case da or dal and a or al are equivalent to the English from and to, e.g. Mauro e Giulia sono stati fidanzati dal 2000 al 2003. “Mauro and Julia were engaged from 2000 to 2003”.

Are you getting a headache? Well, I still get confused sometimes in English, even though I have been speaking it for many years, parlo inglese da molti anni (literally, I speak English since many years), yet another example of this confusing difference!

I remember when I was first in England somebody asked me: “How long have you been in England?” My first thought was: “Why is he asking me a question in the past tense if I’m here, now?” because “have you been” implied to me as an Italian that I had been in England but I wasn’t there anymore, even though I was standing in front of him. Luckily my aunt, who has lived in England for almost 50 years, came to my rescue and answered for me.

 

Buona fortuna!

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