This episode’s audio doesn’t exist, and we have technology to blame (poof! gone into cyberspace!). Instead of listening to this episode, feel free to use the notes below to learn more about the topic. And if you’re like, “CHER, NO. I NEED THIS EPISODE,” then let me know in the comments below. I’ll put it on my list to record again!
The FIRST PATH uses AVERE to express the past
1.) The verb ‘avere’ means ‘to have’. It changes in form like this:
2.) Form the past tense of using avere and the verb.
One of these forms will be the first part of creating the past tense.
The second part will be the verb that you want to express happened in the past.
So, if you want to say ‘I read’ – You would take
— ‘I’ form of Avere – Ho +
— Past tense of leggere – Letto +
— = Ho letto – I read
I know. Grammar math is so much fun.
As you might have noticed ‘leggere – to read’ changed over to ‘letto’.
Each verb has its own past tense form. Luckily, many of them are standard and easy to form.
Not so luckily, many of them are irregular.
(But really, life would be so boring if everything was standard and easy.)
Another example!
— ‘We’ form of Avere – Abbiamo +
— Past tense of comprare (to buy) – comprato =
— = Abbiamo comprato – We bought
3.) Forming the past tense of the verb in the past
If the verb ends in:
-are –> -ato (dare –> dato)
-ere –> -uto (temere –> temuto)
-ire –> ito (finire –> finito)
*We’ll chat about irregular forms later, but for now, here are the most important ones to be aware of:
— Bere – to drink –> bevuto
— Dire – to say –> detto
— Fare – to do/make –> fatto
— Leggere – to read –> letto
— Scrivere – to write –> scritto
— Vedere – to see –> visto
— Venire – to come –> venuto
SECOND PATH – Using ESSERE to express the past
Here’s where it can get a little wonky.
There are certain verbs use ESSERE instead of AVERE.
These verbs tend to be ones that express movement:
— Andare – to go
— Salire – to go up
— Tornare – to return
— Uscire – to go out
— Partire – to leave
— Diventare – to become
— Etc.
This is not a hard and fast rule though.
Let’s get into how you use it.
1.) Essere means ‘to be’
Here is how you conjugate ESSERE in case you have forgotten:
2.) Change the verb to the past tense.
Same rule applies here.
If the verb ends in:
-are –> -ato (dare –> dato)
-ere –> -uto (temere –> temuto)
-ire –> ito (finire –> finito)
But there’s a caveat!
The ending of the verb has to agree with the subject!
Resources mentioned:
Want to learn more irregular verbs like Avere and Essere? Read about them here.
Haven’t learned about singular/plural and masculine/feminine forms yet? Go here to learn more.
Connect with me
