Potere, volere, dovere in the past: Italian grammar lesson 107

Potere, volere, dovere in Italian

The verbs potere (can / to be able to), dovere (must / to have to), and volere (to want) are modal verbs.

Modal verbs are “helping verbs” that are always used before another verb to express the possibility, obligation, or will to perform that action.

In this lesson, we will look at how to use potere, voler,e, and dovere in the past, specifically in the passato prossimo.

Gli ho voluto parlare per non avere problemi.

I wanted to talk to him so as not to have any problems.

Non sei potuto andare?

Couldn’t you go?

Italian study time calculator

Are you in a hurry? Find out how long it will take you to reach your target level of Italian with my free calculator.

It only takes 3 minutes!

Just fill out this simple form to find your ideal study schedule and get on the right track.

I’ll create your free lifetime account to store your study plan so that you may review it at any time. I’ll take you to your dashboard where you’ll find all my free resources.

On your dashboard, you’ll get to take some of my courses for free. I’ll also send you my best offers and free resources by email. You may opt out at any time.

Yes, all this is free for you!

   

Your language skills

How would you rate your skills in your native language?*

I keep my sentences simple; my vocabulary is limited

I can communicate effectively in my daily life, but I'm not comfortable with long or difficult texts

I'm confident speaking and writing about topics I'm familiar with; I can understand complex texts with some effort

I can write and speak correctly about various topics; I regularly read complex texts like newspaper articles

I can explain virtually anything in the right words; I can deal with very complex texts like scientific papers

How would you rate your skills in your native language? is required.

Were you raised bilingual (or more)?*

Were you raised bilingual (or more)? is required.

Have you ever reached an intermediate proficiency in a foreign language?*

Have you ever reached an intermediate proficiency in a foreign language? is required.

Do these languages include any language that is similar to Italian?*

Have you ever reached an intermediate proficiency in a foreign language? is required.

Namely French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Romanian.

How old are you?*

  < 1011 - 2021 - 3031 - 4041 - 5051 - 6061 - 7070 +

How old are you? is required.

Create a study schedule

Your current Italian level*BeginnerElementaryIntermediateUpper-intermediate

Your current Italian level is required.

Set the target level higher than your current one.

Elementary: Can communicate in simple and routine tasks.
Intermediate: Can deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling.
Upper-intermediate: Can interact regularly without strain with native speakers.

Your target Italian level*ElementaryIntermediateUpper-intermediateAdvanced

Your target Italian level is required.

Set the target level higher than your current one.

Deadline*

Deadline is required.

Based on your weekly time commitment, you need extra days to meet the deadline.

Example: your next trip to Italy.

Choose a study schedule*

Intensive 14 Hour/Weekly Commitment

Regular 7 Hour/Weekly Commitment

Free 5 Hours/Weekly Commitment

Deadline is required.

In order to meet your deadline, you need to commit extra hours/week.

Yes! If you follow the plan, you'll be speaking Italian at Advanced level by .

Intensive

In the intensive plan, you commit 2 hours per day.

Diversify your study activities to cover all the language skills that you need: speaking, listening, writing, and reading.

Even though you could argue that more your study, the faster you learn, I wouldn't recommend studying more than a couple of hours a day because the gain from extra time gradually gets smaller.

At the end of this form, you'll get a detailed weekly plan with all the study activites you need to reach your goal. 100% free!

Regular

With a regular plan, you practice 1 hour a day, every day.

Taking 2 live 1-on-1 lessons per week with a qualified teacher or an experienced native tutor is a good pace to practice speaking and get feedback.

This plan is the closest to the one I follow myself and I can assure that you'll make steady progress.

At the end of this form, you'll get a detailed weekly plan with all the study activites you need to reach your goal. 100% free!

Free

There's plenty of free resources online to make the free plan viable.

You need to substitute paid 1-on-1 tutoring with language exchange with native speakers or find other venues to practice speaking. This can be time-consuming and you need to make up for lack of guidance with self-study.

At the end of this form, you'll get a detailed weekly plan with all the study activites you need to reach your goal. 100% free!

Get your results

You're almost there!

After you submit this form, you'll receive the results in your mailbox and will see the study schedule based on your level and the plan that you selected.

These questions below are not used to create your study plan, but I'd love to know more to make my service more relevant to you!

What's your reason for learning Italian? *

Hobby

Work

Study

Relatives / significant others

Travel

What's your reason for learning Italian? is required.

How long have you been studying Italian? *

Less than 1 month

1-2 months

3-5 months

6-12 months

1-2 years

More than 2 years

How long have you been studying Italian? is required.

What are you struggling with? *

I just don't know how to study a languageI'm embarrassed because I can't speakI'm frustrated because I'm wasting time and moneyI'm nervous because I make mistakesI fear that it's too late to startI regret that I don't have timeI feel discouraged because I can't travel or live in ItalyI fear that I'll forget after I quit studyingNothing, I'm confident in my abilities

What are you struggling with? is required.

Gender *

Male

Female

Other

Gender is required.

Your first name*

Your first name is required.

Email*

Email is required.

You'll receive the results together with my best free resources to learn faster. You may opt out at any time.

PreviousCreate a study schedule

1000s of happy learners on their way to fluency

Abbiamo dovuto lavorare tutto il giorno.

We had to work for the whole day.

Passato prossimo: essere or avere?

The passato prossimo of verbs in Italian is formed by conjugating the verb essere (to be) or avere (to have) in the present tense and adding the past participle of the verb we want to use.

The past participle of potere, volere and dovere are potuto, voluto, dovuto.But how do we decide if we need to use essere or avere?

Overcome your barriers in 3 minutes

What's holding you back from becoming fluent?
Find out with this free checklist!

FREE DOWNLOAD

Free Checklist

Usually, we decide depending on the verb we are conjugating. However, potere, volere, and dovere can form the passato prossimo both with essere and avere, so how do we choose?

We choose which one to use based on the verb that the modal is “helping“, which is the verb that we leave in the infinitive form.

For example:

Here, we use the verb essere because it is required by the verb andare (to go), and not by potere.

On the other hand, we could say:

In this case, we used the verb avere to form the passato prossimo because it is required by the verb decidere (to be able to).

Passato prossimo: conjugations

Free Guide

How to Learn Languages Fast

FREE DOWNLOAD

Here are the conjugations of the verbs potere, volere and dovere in the passato prossimo.

POTERE

VOLERE

DOVERE

Potere, volere, dovere in the past: examples

Let’s have a look at some examples of these modal verbs so that you will feel comfortable using them in context!

• POTERE

• VOLERE

• DOVERE

Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!