What is “Infinito Passato” in Italian?
The infinitive mood in Italian has two tenses: present infinitive and past infinitive.
Examples of the first one are amare (to love), correre(to run), ordormire(to sleep), and examples of the second one are avere amato(to have loved), avere corso (to have run), or avere dormito(to have slept).
Both infinitive tenses have no conjugation, which means that they have no subject to be conjugated to. With the following tips, you’ll be using it correctly with no problems.
How to Form the Past Infinitive in Italian
Transitive Verbs
First of all, you need to know the syntactic difference between transitive and intransitive verbs.
Transitive verbs are verbs that take a direct object. Transitive verbs and their objects are directly liked without the use of any preposition. Transitive verbs that you might know already are cantare (to sing), ridere (to laugh), and sentire (to feel).
When you want to form the past infinitive of transitive verbs, you must use the present infinitive of the auxiliary verb avere (to have) followed by the past participle of the main verb.
| Infinito | Infinito passato |
| cantare (to sing) | avere cantato (to have sung) |
| ridere (to laugh) | avere riso (to have laughed) |
| sentire(to feel) | avere sentito(to have felt) |
Examples:
Dopo aver riso così tanto mi faceva male la pancia.
After having laughed that much my belly hurt.
Come ti senti dopo avere letto la poesia che ti ha dedicato?
How do you feel after having read the poem she dedicated to you?
Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs are verbs that take an indirect object. Intransitive verbs and their objects are indirectly linked by means of a preposition. Intransitive verbs you might know already are andare (to go), rimanere (to stay), venire (to come).
When you want to form the past infinitive of intransitive verbs, you must use the present infinitive of the auxiliary verb essere (to be) followed by the past participle of the main verb.
In this case, however, there is one more thing to pay attention to: the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject described.
Mi dispiace essere andata a casa presto.
I am sorry to have gone home early. / I am sorry I went home early.
Ci siamo resi conto di essere stati maleducati.
We realized to not have been polite. / We realized we weren’t polite.
| Infinito | Infinito passato |
| andare (to go) |
(to have gone) |
| rimanere (to stay) |
(to have stayed) |
| venire (to come) |
(to have come) |
Reflexive Verbs
What I always tell my students is that reflexive verbs are special transitive verbs, where the object and the subject coincide. But this coincidence requires reflexive verbs to select the auxiliary verb essere, and, therefore, to behave as intransitive verbs.
However, reflexive verbs need reflexive pronouns, which are added to the verb essere that is, then, conjugated as essermi, esserti, essersi, esserci, esservi, or essersi.
Just like you saw before, with the auxiliary verb “essere”, the past participle must agree with the gender and number of the subject.
Examples of reflexive verbs are truccarsi (to wear make up), chiedersi (to wonder), vestirsi (to dress up).
| Subject | Infinito | Infinito passato |
| io | vestirmi | essermi vestito/a |
| tu | vestirti | esserti vestito/a |
| lui/lei | vestirsi | essersi vestito/a |
| noi | vestirci | esserci vestiti/e |
| voi | vestirvi | esservi vestiti/e |
| loro | vestirsi | essersi vestiti/e |
Sarebbe meglio farci una foto dopo esserci vestiti.
It would be better that we take a picture after we have dressed up.
Sei sicuro di esserti chiesto cosa vuoi da lei?
Are you sure you have asked yourself what you want from her?
Present Infinitive vs Past Infinitive: the use
Of course, the tense we use for a verb plays a huge role in the perception of the sentence.
If we use present infinitive, the action expressed by the main verb is perceived as ongoing, and not completed. Instead, if we use past infinitive, the action expressed by the main verb is perceived as finished.
Look at these two examples:
Mi dispiace averti disturbato.
I am sorry for having disturbed you.
In this sentence, I am saying that I have disturbed you in the past, and now, in the present, I am apologizing.
Mi dispiace disturbarti.
I am sorry for disturbing you.
