Passato prossimo vs imperfetto, explained

Read the table by its first column. Each row on the passato prossimo side reports something that happened and is over; each row on the imperfetto side describes a state of things, a habit, or an action caught while it was still going on. English blurs the difference, because "I went" and "it was" can translate either tense. Italian does not let you leave it open: every past verb has to pick a side.

The choice is not about how long something lasted, but about how you look at it. The passato prossimo looks at an event from the outside, as a whole that is over. The imperfetto looks from the inside, while it was still going on, without saying when or whether it ended. That is why a long stay can take the passato prossimo ("ho vissuto a Napoli per due anni": two years, closed) and a moment can take the imperfetto ("erano le otto": the time on the clock, as background).

In a story the two work together. The imperfetto paints the background; the passato prossimo is the line of events that happen against it:

• Pioveva e non c’era nessuno per strada.It was raining and there was nobody in the street. (The scene.)
• A un certo punto ho visto una luce.At one point I saw a light. (Something happened.)
• Sono uscito e ho chiamato Marco.I went out and called Marco. (The story moves on.)
• Mentre aspettavo, ha smesso di piovere.While I was waiting, it stopped raining. (Background, then an event.)

The clearest case is an interruption. One action is already under way, and another one breaks into it. The action under way takes the imperfetto, because you are inside it when the other thing happens. The interruption takes the passato prossimo, because it is a single event with a beginning and an end. Swap them and the story changes: "quando è arrivato Marco, abbiamo guardato la partita" means that Marco arrived first and then you all watched the match.

Break down your own sentence

Use the passato prossimo for anything you report as having happened: a single event ("ho perso le chiavi"), a sequence of events ("mi sono alzato, ho fatto colazione e sono uscito"), something repeated a counted number of times ("ho visto quel film quattro volte"), and a period whose limits the sentence gives, whether by a length ("per due ore", "tutta la notte") or by a start and an end ("dal 2015 al 2019", "fino a mezzanotte").

That last use is where learners slip most. A period can be long and still be closed. Waiting two hours, living somewhere for ten years, working all day: if the sentence measures it, you are looking at it from outside, as a block with edges, and the passato prossimo is the tense.

The passato prossimo is also the tense for sudden changes, often with all’improvviso, a un tratto or a un certo punto, and for verdicts on something that is over. "Il concerto è stato bellissimo" sums up the evening once it has ended. Said with era, the same sentence would describe the concert as it was going on, usually as background to something else.

• Sabato abbiamo dipinto la cucina.On Saturday we painted the kitchen.
• Ho chiamato Luca tre volte, ma non ha risposto.I called Luca three times, but he didn’t answer.
• Sono rimasta in ufficio fino alle nove.I stayed at the office until nine.
• Il concerto è stato bellissimo.The concert was wonderful. (A verdict on something over.)
• All’improvviso si è messo a piovere.Suddenly it started to rain.

Use the imperfetto for what used to happen, with no count: routines, customs, the way life went in a certain period. English reaches for "used to" or "would" ("we would go to the market on Saturdays"), and both are good hints that Italian wants the imperfetto. Phrases that name a period of life, such as da bambino, da piccola, da ragazzi or quando ero giovane, almost always pull the verbs that follow into the imperfetto.

The imperfetto is also the tense of description. Weather, appearance, the time on the clock, someone’s age, what people felt, thought or wanted: all of these are states rather than events, and the imperfetto presents them as the setting of a story. An action in progress belongs here too, alone ("cosa facevi?", what were you doing?) or alongside another one ("mentre lei parlava, io prendevo appunti"), and so does the background to an interruption, as in the breakdown of the match above.

Two uses of the imperfetto have nothing to do with the past. "Volevo un caffè" in a bar is a polite request, softer than "voglio": it means "I would like a coffee". And in everyday speech the imperfetto often stands in for the longer forms of an unreal condition: "se lo sapevo, non venivo" (if I had known, I would not have come). Written Italian prefers "se l’avessi saputo, non sarei venuto".

• Il sabato andavamo sempre al mercato.On Saturdays we always went to the market.
• Mentre lei parlava, io prendevo appunti.While she was talking, I was taking notes.
• Era tardi, faceva freddo e non avevo l’ombrello.It was late, it was cold and I didn’t have an umbrella.
• Avevo paura del buio.I was afraid of the dark.
• Volevo chiederti una cosa.I wanted to ask you something. (A softened request.)

Explain the passato prossimo and imperfetto at your levelwith Plus

The passato prossimo is built with an auxiliary and the past participle: avere for most verbs ("ho mangiato"), essere for most verbs of motion and change and for reflexive verbs ("sono arrivata", "mi sono svegliato"). With essere, the participle agrees with the subject: "Maria è andata", "i ragazzi sono partiti". Regular participles end in -ato, -uto and -ito (parlato, venduto, dormito); many common ones are irregular: fatto, detto, visto, preso, messo, letto, scritto, aperto, chiuso, rimasto, venuto, nato, stato.

The imperfetto is a single word whose endings are almost entirely regular. Take the infinitive, drop the final -re, and add -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano. In the loro form the stress falls on the third syllable from the end: parlàvano, not parlavàno.

Essere is the only fully irregular verb. A few others build the imperfetto on an older, longer stem and are regular from there: fare → facevo, dire → dicevo, bere → bevevo, tradurre → traducevo, porre → ponevo.

Some time expressions lean towards one tense. They are a help, not a rule: the meaning of the whole sentence decides.

"Ieri" goes with either tense: "ieri ho lavorato" (yesterday I worked) reports the day; "ieri lavoravo quando mi hai chiamato" (yesterday I was working when you called) gives the background to something else.

"Sempre" works the same way. "Ero sempre in ritardo" describes how things used to be (I was always late, back then). "Sono sempre stato puntuale" sums up a whole stretch of time up to now (I have always been punctual). "Ogni" with a count turns a habit into a finished total: "ogni giorno andavo in palestra" is a routine, while "sono andato in palestra ogni giorno per un mese" reports a month that is over. "Mentre", on the other hand, nearly always introduces the imperfetto, because it describes something under way.

With a few common verbs, the tense chooses between two different English verbs.

The logic is the same as everywhere else. In the passato prossimo the verb becomes an event: the moment the knowing began, the moment you found out, the time you actually managed to do something. In the imperfetto it stays a state: knowing, being able, wanting, with the outcome left open. Here is the same sentence in both tenses, with only the verb changed:

The same pairs run through sapere, potere, volere and dovere. "Ho saputo" reports news reaching you; "sapevo" says you had the knowledge already. "Ho potuto" says you managed it; "potevo" only that it was possible. "Dovevo partire" leaves room for a "ma": you were supposed to leave and something got in the way. "C’è stato" and "c’era" split the same way: an event that occurred against a situation that existed.

• Ho conosciuto Luca a una festa.I met Luca at a party.
• Conoscevo Luca da anni.I had known Luca for years.
• Ho saputo del tuo esame da Marta.I heard about your exam from Marta.
• Finalmente ho potuto riposare.At last I was able to rest.
• Dovevo partire, ma ho perso il treno.I was supposed to leave, but I missed the train.
• C’è stato un incidente in autostrada.There was an accident on the motorway. (It happened.)
• C’era molto traffico in autostrada.There was a lot of traffic on the motorway. (The situation.)

• NotDa piccolo sono andato al mare ogni estate.

  ButDa piccolo andavo al mare ogni estate.

  A habit with no count takes the imperfetto. The passato prossimo needs a total to report: "ci sono andato tre volte".

• NotVivevo a Roma per tre anni.

  ButHo vissuto a Roma per tre anni.

  Per + a length of time closes the period, so the passato prossimo. The imperfetto leaves a period open, which per tre anni contradicts.

• NotQuando ho avuto dieci anni, abitavo a Torino.

  ButQuando avevo dieci anni, abitavo a Torino.

  Age is a state, so the imperfetto. To say you turned ten, Italian uses another verb: "ho compiuto dieci anni".

• NotMentre ho fatto la spesa, ho incontrato Sara.

  ButMentre facevo la spesa, ho incontrato Sara.

  The action under way when something else happened takes the imperfetto. Mentre nearly always introduces it.

• NotConoscevo mia moglie nel 2010.

  ButHo conosciuto mia moglie nel 2010.

  Meeting someone for the first time is an event: ho conosciuto. Conoscevo would mean you already knew her in 2010.

• NotMia sorella ha partito ieri.

  ButMia sorella è partita ieri.

  Partire takes essere, and with essere the participle agrees with the subject: partita for a woman.

A note on regions and writing: in much of southern Italy, and in written narrative, the passato remoto ("andai", "vidi") often takes the place of the passato prossimo for completed events. The contrast with the imperfetto stays the same.

Practise these with the tutorwith Pro

Italian has a hand-written profile in Epsylo, so every Italian sentence comes back broken down word by word, with the auxiliary and the participle of a passato prossimo as words of their own. Open a verb to see which tense it is in and why the sentence uses it here: a finished event, a habit, a scene, or the action something else interrupted.

Break down an Italian sentence

Is the passato prossimo for short actions and the imperfetto for long ones?

No. Length does not decide. "Ho vissuto a Napoli per due anni" uses the passato prossimo for two years because the period is presented as closed; "erano le otto" uses the imperfetto for a moment because it is background. The question is whether you present the event as a finished whole or describe it from inside.

Do you say "era bello" or "è stato bello"?

Both are correct, with different meanings. "È stato bello" sums up an experience that is over: "the holiday was lovely". "Era bello" describes how something was at the time: "the place was beautiful".

Ero or sono stato: which one do I need?

Both are past forms of essere. "Ero stanco" describes how you were at the time, as a state. "Sono stato male tutta la settimana" reports a closed period: I was ill all week. With a measured period or a verdict, use sono stato; with a description or a background state, use ero.

Why do Italians say "volevo" when they order in a bar?

"Volevo un caffè" uses the imperfetto as a politeness form. It softens a present request, much like English "I wanted to ask…", and means "I would like a coffee", not that you no longer want one. "Vorrei un caffè" says the same thing.

When does the passato prossimo take essere instead of avere?

With most verbs of motion or change of state (andare, venire, partire, nascere, diventare), with reflexive verbs, and with essere itself. The participle then agrees with the subject: "siamo arrivati", "si è svegliata".

What is the difference between passato prossimo and passato remoto?

Both describe completed events. The passato prossimo is the everyday spoken form in most of Italy; the passato remoto appears in written narrative and history, and in everyday speech in much of the south. Neither replaces the imperfetto.

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