The Italian past participle

The Italian past participle

The Italian past participle is the equivalent of “played”, “cleaned”, “done”, “gone”, “seen”, etc., as in the example below:

However, it doesn’t always translate like that, as you can see below:

If you’re learning Italian, you probably already encountered the Italian past participle many times but didn’t realize it, unless you were already familiar with it.

In fact, when we talk about the past in Italian, we use it all the time.

Let’s find out more about the Italian past participle!

How to use the Italian past participle

The past participle needs to go together with one of the two Italian auxiliary verbs: essere or avere.

Have a look at the examples below to understand better:

We couldn’t have said “mangiato troppo” or “stata in Italia” on their own because it would have looked incomplete.

It’s the same in English. Would you say “I eaten too much” or “I been to Italy”?

No. Right?

This is because, on its own, the past participle doesn’t make much sense.

For this reason, it is considered an unfinished verb mode, which means it doesn’t give us much information about the person who did the action.

How to form the Italian past participle of regular verbs

The past participles of regular verbs are formed as follows:

• Past participles of -are verbs end in -ato
• Past participles of -ere verbs end in -uto
• Past participles of -ire verbs end in -ito

Here are some examples:

-are verbs

• Ballare (to dance): ballato
• Camminare (to walk): camminato
• Lavorare (to work): lavorato
• Mangiare (to eat): mangiato

-ere verbs

• Avere (to have): avuto
• Cadere (to fall): caduto
• Credere (to believe): creduto
• Sapere (to know): saputo

-ire verbs

• Capire (to understand): capito
• Dormire (to sleep): dormito
• Finire (to finish): finito
• Sentire (to feel): sentito

How to form the Italian past participle of irregular verbs

There are some verbs that have irregular past participles.

In this case, you just need to memorize them. You could write them down or make up a game to practice them.

Here are some of them:

• Aprire (to open): aperto
• Essere (to be): stato
• Conoscere (to know/meet): conosciuto
• Fare (to do): fatto
• Dire (to say): detto
• Chiedere (to ask): chiesto
• Leggere (to read): letto
• Mettere (to put): messo
• Perdere (to lose): perso
• Rompere (to break): rotto
• Ridere (to laugh): riso
• Scrivere (to write): scritto
• Vedere (to see): visto
• Venire (to come): venuto
• Vivere (to live): vissuto

Verb tenses formed with the Italian past participle

As we already mentioned, the past participle goes together with the conjugated form of either avere or essere in this order:

• Corresponding conjugated form of avere/essere + past participle

The verbs tenses that are formed with the Italian past participle are the following:

• Passato prossimo (present perfect)

Construction: present tense of avere/essere + past participle

• Trapassato prossimo (past perfect)

Construction: imperfect tense of avere/essere + past participle

• Condizionale passato (past conditional)

Construction: present conditional tense of avere/essere + past participle

• Congiuntivo passato (past subjunctive)

Construction: present subjunctive tense of avere/essere + past participle

• Congiuntivo trapassato(past perfect subjunctive)

Construction: imperfect subjunctive tense of avere/essere + past participle

The Italian past participle: essere or avere?

You might wonder when we use essere and when we use avere.

It’s ok.

All foreigners learning Italian ask themselves the same question.

Here’s the answer!

We use avere with most Italian verbs, like mangiare (to eat), ballare (to dance), dormire (to sleep).

We use essere with the following verbs:

• Verbs of movement (i.e.: andare – to go; venire – to come)
• Reflexive verbs (i.e.: svegliarsi – to wake up; lavarsi – to wash oneself)
• Verbs that indicate the state of something/someone (i.e.: essere – to be; stare – to be/feel).

When we use the past infinitive with the verb essere, the past participle agrees in number and gender with the noun it refers to, like in the example below:

As you can see, we said tornati (and not tornato or tornate) since we’re referring to “they”.

Other uses of the Italian past participle

Past participles are not only used in verbal constructions but also for other purposes.

They can be used as nouns, like in the example below:

In this example, sconosciuto, the past participle of sconoscere (to not know), is used as a noun.

They can also be used as adjectives:

Here, rubato, the past participle of rubare (to steal), is used as an adjective.

However, these uses of the Italian past participle are not very common.

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