Check out this handy conjugation chart for essere and avere to review their forms in l’imperfetto!
Check out our post on choosing essere vs. avere in Italian for a quick reminder of how to decide which auxiliary to use with a given verb
Italian Articles
What is the ‘trapassato prossimo’ in Italian?
By: Silvia Giorgini Althoen Fri Aug 30 2024
The trapassato prossimo (in English known as the “pluperfect” or “past perfect”) is an Italian past tense used to express an action that had already happened before another one: think of it as the past of the past! Just like the English past perfect (“had verb-ed”), it is a compound tenseNo definition set for compound tenseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. Don’t worry, if you know how to use the imperfetto of essere(to be) and avere(to have) and if you know how to form the passato prossimo you are ready to...reminisce! It’s quite simple to form!
In this post we’ll teach you how to form the trapassato prossimo in Italian, and when to use it. Let’s see how!
Table of Contents
How to use the ‘trapassato prossimo’ in Italian?
To use the trapassato prossimo, combine an auxiliaryNo definition set for auxiliaryLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. (essere(to be)or avere(to have)), conjugated in the l'imperfetto, with the past participleNo definition set for past participleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. See? It’s very much like forming the passato prossimo or other Italian compound tenses.
Tip
Let’s consider these two examples:
- essere (imperfetto)past participle
Ricordo che eri appena arrivato quando Sara ha chiamato.
I remember you had just arrived when Sara called.
- avere (imperfetto)past participle
Sono arrivata alle 7 e Maria aveva già preparato cena.
I arrived at 7 and Maria had already made dinner.
These two examples, eri appena arrivato and aveva già preparato, both represent actions that happened before another moment in the past:
You had already arrived before Sara called
Maria had already made dinner before I arrived
This is why we use the trapassato prossimo.
Tip
Often the trapassato prossimo is introduced with expressions such as dopo che(after), appena(just), prima di(before), già(already), etc. These expressions are usually placed between the auxiliary and the past participle, as shown in the examples above.
In Italian, there are different ways to talk about past events:
we can use the imperfetto when talking about recurring or ongoing events in the past
we can use the passato prossimo when talking about events that are concluded
The trapassato prossimo works with both kinds of actions: as the past of the past! Let’s see how to do it!
A useful way to learn this tense is to think about choosing a path and following the steps to your destination: trapassato prossimo. The path you take depends on whether the verb uses essere(to be) or avere(to have).
Path 1: How to form the past perfect with ‘essere’?
To form the trapassato prossimo of a verb that uses essere, use the formula below:
essere(to be)
(in imperfetto)
past participle
(agrees)
Ricordo che eri appena arrivato quando Sara ha chiamato.
I remember you had just arrived when Sara called.
Let’s begin by learning the conjugation of the verb essere(to be) in the imperfetto:
io ero | noi eravamo |
tu eri | voi eravate |
lei/lui/Lei era | loro erano |
As with the passato prossimo, the verb essere is then combined with a past participle. Let’s go over how to use the past participles with the verb essere.
Tip
Italian past participles are equivalent to English expressions with “verb+ed.” In Italian they mostly end in:
Ending | Past participle example |
|---|---|
-ato | arrivato(arrived) |
-uto | creduto(believed) |
-ito | pulito(cleaned) |
But in Italian, and in English, there are some irregularNo definition set for irregularLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. past participles, for example:
aperto(opened)
chiuso(closed)
detto(said, told)
Check out this longer list of irregular past participles in Italian or review this table of tips on how to form the irregular past participle.
Important
As in other compound tenses, when you use essere as the auxiliary verb, the past participle agrees in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the subject of the sentence:
Feminine Singular | Feminine Plural | Masculine Singular | Masculine Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
Maria era arrivata prima di Lucia. Maria had arrived before Lucia. | Maria e Lucia erano arrivate prima di te. Maria and Lucia had arrived before you. | Mario era arrivato prima di Lucio. Mario had arrived before Lucio. | Mario e Lucio erano arrivati prima di te. Mario and Lucio had arrived before you. |
Remember, all reflexive verbsNo definition set for reflexive verbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. in Italian use essere, so with a reflexive verb, the past participle will always agree!
I bambini si erano lavati le mani prima di mangiare.
The children washed their hands before eating.
Now that we know how to conjugate essere in the imperfetto and how to use the past participles, let’s see how to form the trapassato prossimo. Let's go back to our initial example. If you want to say “I remember you had just arrived when Sarah called” in Italian, here are the steps to follow.
The verb “arrive” translates to arrivare, which uses essere, so we follow path 1!
We ask: who is the subject? → tu(you, masculine singular)
Choose the tu form of essere in the imperfetto → tu eri
Add the past participle of arrivare, and make it agree with the subject → tu eri arrivato
And then add it all together to form the final sentence:
essere (imperfetto)past participleRicordo che eri appena arrivato quando Sara ha chiamato.
I remember you had just arrived when Sara called.
Path 2: How to form the past perfect with ‘avere’?
To form the trapassato prossimo(past perfect) with avere(have) follow the formula below.
avere(to have)
(in imperfetto)
past participle
(usually without agreement)
Sono arrivata alle 7 e Maria aveva già preparato cena.
I arrived at 7 and Maria had already made dinner.
Let’s go over the conjugation for avere in the imperfetto:
io avevo | noi avevamo |
tu avevi | voi avevate |
lei/lui aveva | loro avevano |
So let’s go through the steps to follow if you want to say something like “I arrived at 7 and Maria had already made dinner.”
The verb “make” here is best translated with preparare(to prepare/make), which takes the auxiliary verb avere, so we follow path 2!
We ask, who is the subject? → Maria (feminine singular)
We choose the lei form of avere conjugated in imperfetto → Maria aveva
Add the past participle of preparare (without agreement) → Maria aveva preparato
Put it together into a complete sentence!
avere (imperfetto)past participleSono arrivata alle 7 e Maria aveva già preparato cena.
I arrived at 7 and Maria had already made dinner.
Exception!
You may recall that in compound tenses, if the verb is formed with avere you can skip the gender agreement on the past participle, unless you have a direct object pronoun. In this case the past participle agrees in gender and number with the direct object pronoun:
Maria aveva comprato le fragole. Le aveva comprate al mercato.
Maria had bought strawberries. She had bought them at the market.
→ Le is a feminine plural direct object pronoun, so the past participle is in its feminine plural form
Tip
Use the trapassato prossimo to sound polite:
Ti avevo portato una torta.
I just got you a cake.
When to use the ‘trapassato prossimo’ in Italian
As we saw above, we mostly use the trapassato prossimo to talk about something that was finished before another past event or moment. But in spoken Italian, you can sometimes hear other uses of the trapassato prossimo. For example:
Setting the background in narratives:
Similarly to the use of imperfetto, you can use the trapassato in narrative for descriptions in the past of the past:
Gianni aveva lavorato tutto il giorno.
Gianni had worked all day.
Replying to an implied past reference:
The trapassato can sometimes be used independently in a sentence as long as the reference to the past is understood from context.
Bello il film. Non l’avevo ancora visto.
Great film! I hadn’t seen it before.
Summing up
The trapassato prossimo is your ally when you want to talk about past events that happened before another event in the past, just remember to:
use two words: auxiliary (essere/avere) + past participle,
check if the verb takes essere or avere and use them in the imperfetto,
remember that the past participle matches in gender (feminine/masculine) and number (singular/plural) if the verbs follow the imperfetto of essere + past participle “path.”
Ready to follow the paths to success with these activities? Andiamo!(Let's go!)
Downloadable Resources
Elevate your language-learning journey to new heights with the following downloadable resources.
