Italian 6.2. The Past Infinitive

The past infinitive in Italian is formed as follows:

“avere” or “essere” + past participle

It is equivalent to the English combination of “having” followed by the past participle, e.g., “having finished,” “having eaten,” “having seen,” etc.

Let us consider the following two examples:

Penso di guidare molto.	I think that I drive a lot.
Crede di cambiare velocemente.	He believes that he changes fast.

Notice that both examples are in the present tense, and that the subject is the same in the main clause and the subordinate clause. In Italian, unlike in English where the subject is repeated, we use the infinitive preceded by “di” to avoid repeating the subject.

Now, consider the case when the subordinate clause in the two examples is in the past instead of the present. In this case, the past infinitive is used instead of the infinitive. For example:

Pensavo di aver guidato molto.	I thought that I had driven a lot.
Crede di essere cambiato velocemente.	He believes that he changed fast.

Notice that only the verb in the subordinate clause must be in the past to use the past infinitive, whereas the verb in the main clause can be in the present or in the past.

Two Past Actions with the Same Subject

Another common use of the past infinitive in Italian is when there are two actions in the past and the subject is the same. For example:

Dopo aver terminato il suo lavoro, si è preso una settimana di ferie.	After having finished his work, he took a week off.
Gli è stato detto di lasciare il posto per aver violato le regole.	He was told to leave the place for having violated the rules.

We can also use the past infinitive in cases where we would normally use the infinitive in English, if the action referred to by the infinitive is in the past. For example:

Grazie per avermi invitato.	Thank you for inviting me.
Mi dispiace di essere andato via prima ieri sera.	I’m sorry for leaving early last night.

Notice that the actions that the past infinitive refers to in both examples are understood to be in the past. Notice also that a pronoun can be attached to the end of “avere” or “essere.”

The infinitive forms “avere” and “essere” are often shortened to “aver” and “esser,” respectively, when used in the past infinitive in daily informal speech.

Next: Imperfect Subjunctive Tense

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