Language/Italian/Grammar/Trapassato-Prossimo
Trapassato Prossimo is one of the compound tenses in the Italian language, used to talk about a past action that took place before another past action. It is mainly used in formal Italian writing and spoken language.
Consider exploring these related pages after completing this lesson: Futuro Semplice & Give your Opinion.
Formation
To form Trapassato Prossimo, you need two elements:
1. The imperfect tense of the auxiliary verbs "avere" or "essere" (depending on the main verb) in the third person singular 2. The past participle of the main verb
The formula is:
subject + imperfect of "avere/essere" + past participle of the main verb
Here is an example with the verb "parlare" (to speak) with "avere":
Io avevo parlato (I had spoken) Tu avevi parlato (You had spoken) Lui/lei aveva parlato (He/she had spoken) Noi avevamo parlato (We had spoken) Voi avevate parlato (You had spoken) Loro avevano parlato (They had spoken)
And here is an example with the verb "uscire" (to go out) with "essere":
Io ero uscito (I had gone out) Tu eri uscito (You had gone out) Lui/lei era uscito/a (He/she had gone out) Noi eravamo usciti/e (We had gone out) Voi eravate usciti/e (You had gone out) Loro erano usciti/e (They had gone out)
Note that when using "essere", the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.
Usage
Trapassato Prossimo is used to indicate an action that was completed before another action in the past. It is often used in combination with Passato Prossimo or Imperfetto.
Here are some example sentences:
- Quando sono arrivato a casa, mio marito era già andato a letto.
(When I arrived home, my husband had already gone to bed.)
- L'anno scorso aveva piovuto molto quando siamo andati in vacanza.
(Last year it had rained a lot when we went on vacation.)
- Avevano già chiuso il negozio quando sono arrivato.
(They had already closed the shop when I arrived.)
Irregular Verbs
Most verbs follow the regular pattern for Trapassato Prossimo formation. However, some verbs have irregular past participles that do not follow the normal rule of adding "-ato", "-uto", or "-ito".
Here are some commonly used verbs with their irregular past participles:
Italian | English | Past Participle |
---|---|---|
aprire | to open | aperto |
bere | to drink | bevuto |
chiedere | to ask | chiesto |
chiudere | to close | chiuso |
decidere | to decide | deciso |
dire | to say | detto |
fare | to do/make | fatto |
leggere | to read | letto |
mettere | to put | messo |
morire | to die | morto |
nascere | to be born | nato |
offrire | to offer | offerto |
prendere | to take | preso |
scrivere | to write | scritto |
vedere | to see | visto |
vincere | to win | vinto |
volere | to want | voluto |
Exercises
Translate the following sentences into Italian using Trapassato Prossimo:
- I had already eaten when my friends arrived.
- We had seen the movie before, but we wanted to watch it again.
- They had already left when we arrived at the restaurant.
Sources
- Italian past perfect (trapassato prossimo) grammar lesson
- Trapassato Prossimo: The Italian Past Perfect Tense - The ...
- Italian Past Perfect Tense - Trapassato Prossimo
Other Lessons
- Congiuntivo Passato
- Simple Past Subjunctive
- When use LI and GLI
- Accents
- Definite Articles
- Future Tense
- Present Tense of Regular Verbs
- Definite Articles in Italian
- Past Participle in Italian
Videos
Pluperfect Tense in Italian: Trapassato Prossimo - YouTube
How to use Italian past tense TRAPASSATO PROSSIMO in a ...
Il trapassato prossimo | B1 Italian Grammar - YouTube