Italian 3.2. Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense in Italian is used to describe events that happened and were completed in the past or happened in the past and continue in the present.

In Italian, the present perfect tense covers both the present perfect and the simple past tenses in English, that is, “I spoke” and “I have spoken” are both translated to the same tense in Italian.

Using the Conjugation Auxiliary “Avere” vs. “Essere”

The present perfect is a compound tense, meaning it requires an auxiliary verb. In English, we use the verb “to have” in the present tense as an auxiliary, e.g., “I have done my homework.”

In Italian, some verbs use the auxiliary “avere” (to have), while others use the auxiliary “essere” (to be) in the present tense, followed by the past participle.  

The past participle of regular verbs using the auxiliary “avere” (to have) is formed by adding the appropriate suffix for “-are,” “-ere,” and “-ire” verbs.

“-are” verbs	“avere” in the present tense	“verb stem” + “-ato”
“-ere” verbs		“verb stem” + “-uto”
“-ire” verbs		“verb stem” + “-ito”

The past participle of regular verbs using the auxiliary “essere” (to be) is formed in a similar way.

One additional requirement here is that the suffix of the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number, that is, the past participle essentially requires the treatment of an adjective.

“-are” verbs	“essere” in the present tense	“verb stem” + “-ato”/ “-ata”/ “-ati”/ “-ate”
“-ere” verbs		“verb stem” + “-uto”/ “-uta”/ “-uti”/ “-ute”
“-ire” verbs		“verb stem” + “-ito”/ “-ita”/ “-iti”/ “-ite”

Examples with “Avere”

Let us look at some examples of verbs conjugated using the auxiliary “avere”:

		-are ending e.g., parlare	-ere ending e.g., vendere	-ire ending e.g., finire
io	ho	parlato	venduto	finito
tu	hai
lui/lei	ha
noi	abbiamo
voi	avete
loro	hanno

Here are some more examples:

		Examples
io	ho	Io ho visitato l’Egitto l’anno scorso.	I visited Egypt last year.
tu	hai	Tu hai finito il tuo lavoro.	You have finished your work.
lui/lei	ha	Lui ha parlato con sua madre.	He spoke with his mother.
noi	abbiamo	Noi abbiamo mangiato tutto il cibo.	We have eaten all the food.
voi	avete	Sono sicuro che mi avete sentito ieri sera.	I am sure you heard me last night.
loro	hanno	Loro hanno lavorato qui per due anni.	They worked here for two years.

Notice that in some of these examples, the present perfect tense in Italian corresponds to the present perfect, whereas in others it corresponds to the simple past tense depending on the context.

Examples with “Essere”

Now, let us look at some examples of verbs conjugated using the auxiliary “essere”:

		-are ending e.g., andare	-ere ending e.g., cadere	-ire ending e.g., partire
io	sono	andato/-a	caduto/-a	partito/-a
tu	sei	andato/-a	caduto/-a	partito/-a
lui	è	andato	caduto	partito
lei	è	andata	caduta	partita
noi	siamo	andati/-e	caduti/-e	partiti/-e
voi	siete	andati/-e	caduti/-e	partiti/-e
loro	sono	andati/-e	caduti/-e	partiti/-e

Here are some more examples:

		Examples
io	sono	Sono andato in palestra la scorsa settimana.	I went to the gym last week.
tu	sei	Sei partito presto ieri sera.	You left early last night.
lui/lei	è	Lui è caduto dalle scale.	He fell down the stairs.
noi	siamo	Siamo entrati nella stanza.	We have entered the room.
voi	siete	Voi siete arrivati tardi la scorsa notte.	You arrived late last night.
loro	sono	Ieri loro sono usciti insieme.	They went out together yesterday.

Notice again that in some of these examples, the present perfect tense in Italian corresponds to the present perfect, whereas in others it corresponds to the simple past tense depending on the context.

Verbs Conjugated using “Avere” vs. “Essere”

You are perhaps wondering when to use the auxiliary “avere” and when to use the auxiliary “essere” to form the past participle.

The vast majority of Italian verbs, including all transitive[1] verbs, are conjugated using the auxiliary “avere.” Thus, it is easier to memorize the verbs that use “essere.” First, all transitive non-reflexive verbs use “avere.”

[1] A verb is transitive if it requires an object. For example, the “to bring” can only be transitive, because the meaning is not complete without an object, e.g., “I bring.”

If you can rule that out, the following categories, although not comprehensive, contain most verbs that use “essere.”

Verbs Conjugated using “Essere”

1. A group of intransitive verbs related to motion (e.g., to go, to come, to return, to enter, to leave, to fall, to enter, etc.).

andare	to go	scappare	to escape
arrivare	to arrive	scendere	to go down or descend
cadere	to fall	tornare	to return
entrare	to enter	uscire	to go out
partire	to leave	venire	to come
salire	to go up

Remember that all the verbs above that use “essere” are motion-related. However, not all motion-related verbs use “essere.” This should serve as a guideline to help you memorize the verbs in this category.

2. A group of intransitive verbs related to change or transformation (e.g., to become, to be born, to die, to appear, to disappear, to lose weight, etc.).

apparire	to appear	ingrandire	to get bigger
cambiare	to change	migliorare	to get better
crescere	to grow	morire	to die
dimagrire	to lose weight	nascere	to be born
diminuire	to diminish	peggiorare	to get worse
dipendere da	to depend on or cause	sparire	to disappear
diventare	to become	svanire	to vanish
guarire	to heal	volare	to fly

Notice that the above verbs use “essere” only when they are in transitive form, that is when there is a direct object acted upon. If the verb is transitive, “avere” must be used. For example:

Verb	Example
cambiare to change	È cambiato molto di recente.	He has changed a lot recently.
	Ha cambiato il mondo.	He has changed the world.
crescere to raise or grow	È cresciuta in città.	She grew up in the city.
	Ha cresciuto tre figli.	She raised three children.
guarire to heal	La mia pelle è guarita.	My skin has healed.
	La crema ha guarito la mia pelle.	The cream healed my skin.

3. Verbs that are always in the third-person. For example, “costare” (to cost), “durare” (to last), “occorrere” (to take or to be necessary), “succedere” (to happen), etc.

Here are some examples:

Verb	Meaning	Example
costare	to cost	Mi è costato molto.	It has cost me a lot.
durare	to last	Il volo è durato un’ora.	The flight lasted one hour.
occorrere	to be necessary or to take	Sono occorsi tre giorni per dipingere la casa.	It took three days to paint the house.
succedere	to happen	Per favore, dimmi cosa è successo.	Please, tell me what happened.

4. Many, but not all, verbs like “piacere.” Refer to Lesson 1 of this level.

Here are some examples:

Verb	Meaning	Example
bastare	to be enough	Il cibo gli è bastato.	The food was enough for him.
importare	to be important	Non ci è importato.	We didn’t care.
mancare	to miss	Mi è mancata mia sorella.	I missed my sister.
parere	to seem	L’idea mi è parsa ragionevole.	The idea seemed reasonable to me.
sembrare	to seem	Questo ragazzo mi è sembrato strano.	This guy seemed strange to me.
servire	to need or be of use	Mi è servito un altro libro.	I needed one more book.

5. All reflexive verbs, which will be covered in detail in Level IV, Lesson 3, e.g., “chiamarsi” (to call oneself), “lavarsi” (to wash oneself), etc.

Irregular Past Participles

There are some verbs with irregular past participles used in the present perfect tense in Italian and need to be memorized.

Verb	Past Participle	Meaning	Examples
accendere	acceso	to switch on	All’arrivo, ha acceso la luce.	Upon arrival, he turned on the light.
aprire	aperto	to open	Ho aperto la porta.	I have opened the door.
bere	bevuto	to drink	Quanto hai bevuto?	How much did you drink?
chiedere	chiesto	to ask	Mi ha chiesto di aiutarlo.	He asked me to help him.
chiudere	chiuso	to close	Oggi il negozio ha chiuso tardi.	The shop closed late today.
coprire	coperto	to cover	Ho coperto il pavimento.	I have covered the floor.
correre	corso	to run	Oggi ho corso di mattina.	Today I ran in the morning.
cuocere	cotto	to cook	Ha cotto una bella bistecca.	He cooked a nice steak.
decidere	deciso	to decide	Abbiamo deciso di partire.	We decided to leave.
dire	detto	to say	Te l’ho detto dall’inizio.	I told you from the beginning.
discutere	discusso	to discuss	Hanno discusso l’argomento.	They discussed the topic.
dividere	diviso	to divide	Ho diviso la torta a fette.	I divided the cake into slices.
fare	fatto	to do	Ho fatto tutto il lavoro.	I have done all the work.
friggere	fritto	to fry	Hai fritto la patata?	Have you fried the potato?
leggere	letto	to read	Hai letto questo articolo?	Have you read this article?
mettere	messo	to put	Ho messo la roba nel furgone.	I put the stuff in the van.
morire	morto	to die	È morto l’anno scorso.	He died last year.
nascere	nato	to be born	È nato e cresciuto qui.	He was born and raised here.
offendere	offeso	to offend	Mi dispiace se ti ho offeso.	I’m sorry if I offended you.
perdere	perso	to lose	Ho perso le chiavi.	I lost my keys.
piangere	pianto	to cry	Ha pianto per la sua perdita.	He cried over his loss.
porre	posto	to put	Abbiamo posto fine a questo.	We have put an end to this.
ridere	riso	to laugh	Ho riso quando me l’hanno detto.	I laughed when they told me.
rimanere	rimasto	to remain	Sono rimasti con noi per due notti.	They stayed with us for two nights.
risolvere	risolto	to resolve	Lei ha risolto il problema.	She has resolved the problem.
rompere	rotto	to break	Lei ha rotto la finestra.	She has broken the window.
soddisfare	soddisfatto	to satisfy	Il mio lavoro mi ha soddisfatto.	My work has satisfied me.
scegliere	scelto	to choose	Ho scelto questo prodotto.	I chose this product.
scendere	sceso	to descend or go down	Lui ha sceso le scale.	He went down the stairs.
scrivere	scritto	to write	Ha scritto una lettera.	She has written a letter.
soffrire	sofferto	to suffer	Ha sofferto molto nella vita.	He has suffered a lot in life.
spegnere	spento	to switch off	Ha spento la luce ed è uscito.	He turned off the light and went out.
tradurre	tradotto	to translate	Ho tradotto il documento.	I have translated the document.
vedere	visto	to see	Non l’ho visto.	I haven’t seen him.
venire	venuto	to come	Non è ancora venuta.	She hasn’t come yet.
vincere	vinto	to win	Ha vinto molto facilmente.	He won very easily.
vivere	vissuto	to live	Hanno vissuto qui per anni.	They have lived here for years.

Verbs with both Regular & Irregular Forms

Some verbs have both regular and irregular past participle forms:

Verb	Meaning	Regular Past Part.	Irregular Past Part.
vedere	to see	veduto	visto
perdere	to lose	perduto	perso
succedere	to happen	succeduto	successo
seppellire	to bury	seppellito	sepolto
cedere	to search	ceduto	cesso

Although both regular and irregular forms are considered grammatically correct, note the following:

1. Except for the verb “cedere,” the use of irregular forms is more common in daily spoken language.

2. The use of “veduto,” “perduto,” and “succeduto” is often found in literary domain and may sound archaic.

3. The regular form “perduto” is often used in the context of morality or soul-searching, e.g., “anima perduta” (lost soul). In the context of losing one’s way or going astray, the irregular form is often used, e.g., “Ho perso la mia strada” (I have lost my way).

4. The regular form “succeduto” is often only used when “succedere” means “to succeed,” as in: “Il re è succeduto a suo padre” (The king succeeded his father).

5. The irregular form “cesso” of the verb “cedere” is used in colloquial language as a noun meaning “toilet.”

The verbs above can be used with prefixes that change the meaning, but the irregular form remains the same. For example, the verb “rivedere,” derived from “vedere,” has two past participle forms: “riveduto” and “rivisto.” Similarly, the past participle of the verb “assolvere” (to absolve) is “assolto,” similar to “risolto,” the past participle of “risolvere” (to resolve).

Using the Past Participle as an Adjective

Many adjectives in Italian are the same as the past participle, especially when active meaning is conveyed.

		Examples
aperto	open	La porta è aperta.	The door is open.
benedetto	blessed	Si sente benedetto.	He feels blessed.
chiuso	closed	La finestra è chiusa.	The window is closed.
confuso	confused	Sono confuso ora.	I am confused now.
corrotto	corrupt	Questo politico è corrotto.	This politician is corrupt.

In some cases, the past participle and the adjective are different. For example:

Io mi sono svegliato.	I have woken up.	“svegliato” is the past participle
Io sono sveglio.	I am awake.	“sveglio” is an adjective

Next: The Verb “To Know”: “Sapere” vs. “Conoscere”

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