How to Talk About the Past in Italian: A Guide to the Trapassato Prossimo

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The Italian past perfect (trapassato prossimo) may sound incredibly scary at first – but there’s good news. We use it in a similar way to when you would use the past perfect in English.

In this lesson, we will show you how to use the trapassato prossimo in Italian. Once you get the hang of it, you will easily master this tense.

Using the trapassato prossimo

The trapassato prossimo, or pluperfect, normally locates an event before another past event or reference point. That reference can be stated in the sentence or understood from context.

It is used to:

talk about past occurrences that took place before something else happened.

Quando siamo arrivati in aeroporto, l’aereo era già decollato – When we arrived at the airport, the airplane had already taken off (the plane took off before we arrived)

Sara non è andata a teatro perché aveva già visto lo spettacolo – Sara didn’t go to the theater because she had already seen the show

Riccardo mi ha restituito i soldi che gli avevo prestato due mesi fa – Riccardo gave me back the money I had lent him two months ago

describe a situation that had already lasted for a period before a past reference point:

Aveva già piovuto per due settimane quando è arrivata l’alluvione – It had already been raining for two weeks when the flood came

give earlier background in a narrative. Context can create suspense; the tense itself does not automatically predict an unusual event:

Sofia quel giorno si era alzata come tutte le mattine – That day, Sofia got up/had got up just like every other morning (this looks just like a regular day in Sofia’s life, but you would expect something unusual to happen on that specific day)

How to construct the trapassato prossimo

As you might have noticed, the trapassato prossimo is a compound tense, which means that it is formed by more than one word.

In Italian, the trapassato prossimo, also called piuccheperfetto, is formed with:

the imperfect indicative form of the appropriate auxiliary verb (avere or essere);
the past participle of the main verb.

We will be using avere (to have) and essere (to be) as auxiliary verbs like with the passato prossimo. The only difference is that we will be conjugating them in the imperfect tense. Their conjugations are as follows:

Avere

Io avevo	I had
Tu avevi	You had
Lui/lei aveva	He/She/It had
Noi avevamo	We had
Voi avevate	You (plural) had
Loro avevano	They had

Essere

Io ero	I was
Tu eri	You were
Lui/lei era	He/She/It was
Noi eravamo	We were
Voi eravate	You (plural) were
Loro erano	They were

To make the past participle of regular verbs, you just have to remove the infinitive ending -are, -ere or -ire and replace it with the past participle ending as shown below:

verbs ending in -are use -ato: parlare>parlato, realizzare>realizzato, sognare>sognato;
verbs ending in -ere use -uto: credere>creduto, ricevere>ricevuto, possedere>posseduto;
verbs ending in -ire use -ito: dormire>dormito, agire>agito, diminuire>diminuito.

There are some irregular verbsin the past participle. We recommend committing them to memory:

Aprire (to open)	aperto
Bere (to drink)	bevuto
Chiedere (to ask)	chiesto
Chiudere (to close)	chiuso
Dire (to say, to tell)	detto
Fare (to do, to make)	fatto
Prendere (to take)	preso
Scrivere (to write)	scritto
Tradurre (to translate)	tradotto
Vedere (to see)	visto
Vivere (to live)	vissuto

How to choose the auxiliary verb?

That’s a complex question. The answer depends on the verb expressing the meaning of the sentence. In order to choose which helping/auxiliary verb is to be used, the same rules used in passato prossimo apply.

Using auxiliary verb avere

In active constructions, transitive verbs use avere as their auxiliary.

A transitive verb can take a direct object: Avevo letto il libro. The object does not have to be explicitly stated in every sentence: Avevo già letto is possible when context supplies the meaning.

Avevo letto quel libro sei mesi prima — “I had read that book six months earlier.”

With avere, the participle normally does not agree with a following noun object. It does agree with preceding direct-object pronouns lo, la, li, le: la lettera? L’avevo letta. This also explains non l’aveva riconosciuta later in the lesson.

Intransitive verbs such as viaggiare, rispondere and dormire take avere. Vivere can take either auxiliary in intransitive uses; learn the construction in context.

Using auxiliary verb essere

While “to have” acts as an auxiliary for a myriad of Italian verbs, there is a group of verbs that conjugate with “to be”. You often have to learn whether to use the auxiliary verb “essere” on a case-by-case basis, but there are some general guidelines that are well worth following.

You have to use the auxiliary verb “essere” with:

all reflexive verbs:

Mi ero già svegliato quando è suonata la sveglia – I had already woken up when the alarm clock sounded

many intransitive verbs, including andare, arrivare, partire, tornare and uscire. Movement alone does not determine the auxiliary: compare ero partito with avevo viaggiato;
verbs that express lack of movement, like restare (to stay, to remain) and stare (to stay, to be);
verbs that express state of being, like essere (to be), or processes of change, like nascere (to be born) and morire (to die);
verbs such as succedere and accadere. These have grammatical subjects: Era successo un incidente (“An accident had happened”).

When you use a verb in the trapassato prossimo with “essere,” the past participle must agree with the subject of the sentence in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine). Therefore, it can have four endings:

-o for masculine singular;
-a for feminine singular;
-i for masculine plural;
-e for feminine plural.

In Italian, the verb “essere” can be conjugated with itself as the auxiliary verb.

Gianluca era stato a casa da solo tutto il fine settimana – Gianluca had been home alone the whole weekend

Here is a list of the most common verbs that form compound tenses with “essere”:

Andare (to go): Pietro ed Elisa erano andati al museo – Pietro and Elisa had gone to the museum

Arrivare (to arrive): Marina è andata via quando Barbara era già arrivata – Marina left when Barbara had already arrived

Cadere (to fall, to drop): Un albero gigantesco era caduto durante la notte – A giant tree had fallen over during the night

Costare (to cost): Il suo nuovo abito era costato una fortuna – Her new outfit had cost an arm and a leg

Crescere (to grow): I capelli di Elisabetta erano talmente cresciuti da arrivarle quasi alla vita – Elisabetta’s hair had grown so long it nearly reached her waist

Diventare (to become): Il quartiere era diventato più tranquillo — “The neighborhood had become quieter.”

Durare (to last): La riunione era durata due ore — “The meeting had lasted two hours.” This is a common construction with essere; durare can also take avere in some uses.

Entrare (to enter): Linda è arrivata dopo che tutte le sue amiche erano già entrate nel locale – Linda arrived after all of her friends had already entered the club

Morire (to die): Era già morto quando è arrivata l’ambulanza – He had already died by the time the ambulance arrived

Nascere (to be born): Nel 2005 mia figlia era già nata – My daughter had already been born by 2005

Partire (to leave, to depart): La moto che era partita per prima è arrivata ultima – The motorbike that started first arrived last

Restare (to stay, to remain): Mentre i prezzi erano rimasti stabili, le tasse continuavano ad aumentare – While prices had remained stable, the taxes continued to increase

Stare (to stay, to be): Eravate già stati a Napoli prima dell’estate scorsa? – Had you already been to Naples before last summer?

Tornare (to come back, to return): Non appena eravamo tornati a casa, ha iniziato a piovere – Right after we had returned home, it started raining

Uscire (to go out, to exit): Il professore ci ha informato che Dario era uscito da scuola senza permesso – The teacher informed us that Dario had gone out of school without permission

Venire (to come): Gli agenti erano già venuti a casa nostra prima di mezzanotte — “The officers had already come to our house before midnight.”

How do passato prossimo and trapassato prossimo work together?

As we mentioned earlier, we use the trapassato prossimo whenever we want to talk about something that happened before something else in the past.

The trapassato prossimo and the passato prossimo are often used together in the same sentence. In this type of construction, the action expressed by the trapassato prossimo happened before the event you are referring to with the passato prossimo.

Chiara è partita in ritardo perché aveva dimenticato il passaporto a casa – Chiara left late because she had forgotten her passport at home

Alessandro non ha salutato subito Serena perché non l’aveva riconosciuta – Alessandro didn’t greet Serena right away because he had not recognized her

The trapassato prossimo makes it clear that the event it describes is placed earlier in the past than the action expressed by the passato prossimo.

Grammatically, the difference between them is like this:

Passato prossimo

Io ho parlato	I spoke or have spoken
Tu hai parlato	You spoke or have spoken
Lui/lei ha parlato	He/She/It spoke or has spoken
Noi abbiamo parlato	We spoke or have spoken
Voi avete parlato	You (plural) spoke or have spoken
Loro hanno parlato	They spoke or have spoken

Trapassato prossimo

Io avevo parlato	I had spoken
Tu avevi parlato	You had spoken
Lui/lei aveva parlato	He/She/It had spoken
Noi avevamo parlato	We had spoken
Voi avevate parlato	You (plural) had spoken
Loro avevano parlato	They had spoken

How to translate the trapassato prossimo into English

The trapassato prossimo is the natural equivalent of the past perfect in English and is mostly used for the same purposes. In this rare case, the similarity in the way the two tenses are used in Italian and English is striking.

Quando ho sentito il telefono squillare ero già uscita di casa – When I heard the phone ringing, I had already got out of the house

Avevo fame perché non avevo mangiato nulla tutto il giorno – I was hungry because I had not eaten anything all day

The actions expressed by the trapassato prossimo and past perfect had finished before another event took place in the past.

Prima di trasferirti a Milano avevi già studiato l’italiano? – Had you already studied Italian before you moved to Milan?

Giuliano aveva prenotato il volo cinque giorni prima di partire – Giuliano had booked the flight five days before leaving

La mia vita era stata infelice fino a quando ho conosciuto Samuele – My life had been unhappy until I met Samuele

In the last example, English could also say “was unhappy.” Italian could use La mia vita era infelice… for a background description. The pluperfect presents the earlier period as a completed whole; it is not mandatory simply because two past situations are mentioned.trapassato prossimo in past-before-the-past situations.

To sum up…

In Italian, the trapassato prossimo is to be used to talk about what had already happened in the past.

Dopo solo due ore, avevamo già finito gli argomenti di conversazione – After just a couple of hours, we had already run out of things to say

Its usual function is to locate an event before another past reference point, which can be expressed with passato prossimo, imperfetto or passato remoto.

Quando Vincenzo iniziò a parlare, avevo già capito cosa aveva in mente – When Vincenzo started talking, I had already understood what he had in mind

In English, the past perfect tense acts in the same way.

Avevamo deciso di andare a fare una passeggiata al parco, ma poi ha cominciato a piovere – We had decided to go for a walk in the park, but then it started raining

It is made with the imperfect of the auxiliary verb “avere” or “essere” and the past participle.

Practice as much as you can until you get the hang of it. A presto!