‘Imperfetto’ vs. ‘passato prossimo’: When to use them in Italian?

The imperfetto(imperfect) and passato prossimo(perfect tense) are the most common used to talk about past events in Italian. But when should you use one over the other? In Italian, you normally use the passato prossimo to talk about specific events and the imperfetto to give contextual information. There is more nuance to it, of course, so without further ado, let's get started!

The Italian imperfetto has four main uses:

The Italianpassato prossimo has two main uses:

As you can see, the passato prossimo refers to events and actions that are completed in a specific moment in the past, while the imperfetto is more a descriptive tense. This should be your polar star when figuring out which one to use, but — just in case — there are some extra tricks. First up, time markers.

There are a number of time expressions that tell you which past tense you need to use. Scorso(last) , for instance, triggers the passato prossimo, while ogni(every) calls for the imperfetto. Compare:

Check out these lists of time markers for the imperfetto and time markers for the passato prossimo.

In many cases you will use imperfetto or passato prossimo independently, according to the events or actions you are talking about. However, the two tenses often interact so they’re used together. Ready to find out how the two mates get along? Keep reading!

• To talk about ongoing actions (‘imperfetto’) and interrupting actions (‘passato prossimo’)

  One common case of an imperfetto and passato prossimo cohabitation is: something happened while something else was going on. In this case, use the imperfetto to define what was happening and the passato prossimo for the interruption.

  imperfettopassato prossimo

  Mentre preparavo la cena, ho sentito un forte rumore al piano di sopra.

  While I was cooking dinner, I heard a loud noise from upstairs.

  

  Important

  When talking about ongoing actions (so, the cooking dinner in the example above) Italians might use an alternative to the imperfetto: the passato progressivo, formed by

  imperfetto of stare

  gerund

  Remember that the gerund of the verb is formed by take the infinitive of the verb, drop the ending and adding -ando / -endo, as in:

  Mentre stavo preparando la cena, ho sentito un forte rumore al piano di sopra.

  While I was cooking dinner, I heard a loud noise from upstairs.

  Notice that the English translation doesn’t change. It’s mostly a matter of nuance in Italian. Using the passato progressivo, you’re stressing that the action was, indeed, in progress.

• To talk about specific past events (‘passato prossimo’) and the circumstances around them (‘imperfetto’)

  The imperfetto and passato prossimo are often found together when telling stories or describing situations and events that happened at the same time: the imperfetto sets the stage (giving details), while the passato prossimo explains what happened.

  • Mentre mio papà preparava la cena, io ho finito i compiti.

    While my dad was making dinner, I completed my homework.

  • passato prossimoimperfetto

    Ho rivisto Milena al parco, due anni fa. Era una gloriosa mattina di primavera. Erano le dieci e io ero in ritardo. Ma l’ho vista lì, su una panchina. Scriveva qualcosa su un quaderno, o forse disegnava. Ha alzato gli occhi e ci siamo riconosciuti subito.

    I met Milena again at the park, two years ago. It was a glorious spring morning. It was ten a.m. and I was late. But I saw her there, on a bench. She was writing something on a notebook, or maybe she was drawing. She looked up and we immediately recognized each other.

Depending on the tense they are used, the verbs dovere(must, to have to), potere(can, to be able to), volere(to want), conoscere(to know, to be familiar with), and sapere(to know) have slightly different meanings.

We have just learned the uses of the imperfetto and passato prossimo. To wrap it up: the imperfetto describes ongoing situations, while the passato prossimo refers to completed, specific actions in the past.

To help you practice these tenses, we have created these activities for you. You can further review and practice on this website. Happy learning!