If you’re here reading this, you probably have already “learned” the passato remoto tense in school…but you were confused on how to actually use it because…and I say this with a lot of love…it’s a beautiful train wreck of a tense.

Irregular conjugations are bouncing all over the walls (brimming with caffeinated-energy, no doubt) and confusing you on how to actually use them.

But there’s good and not-so-hot news here.

Let’s do the good news first. Typically, you only have to use the passato remoto when talking about things that happened a looooooong time ago, like the birth of Shakespeare or the {sniff sniff} death of John Lennon in 1980.

The not–so-hot news?

If you adore the south of Italy, you have quite the beast to tackle if you want to sound more like the locals.

You’ll hear the passato remoto used in areas of south Italy, like Puglia, Salento, Sicily, and Calabria, for things that happened weeks again instead of years ago. That means you’re going to be hearing the passato remoto a lot sans dictionary or convenient conjugation chart. However, know that using the passato remoto to talk about events in the recent past is grammatically incorrect, so I will leave the decision to do the same or stand your grammatical ground up to you.

In my experience, I’ve never focused much on the passato remoto because I spend more time in the center of Italy and I can notice it when I read it. That being said, it’s required for the C1 and C2 CILS exams, so if you’re planning on taking those, it’s a must-know.

Depending on where you fall, here’s what you need to know about the tense.

When to use it

Like I mentioned briefly, you use the passato remoto when you want to:

— Express an action that happened in the distant past

— Write a fictional story

— Recount historical events

Also, do know that you can use it along with the imperfect tense as it generally replaces the passato prossimo tense.

How to conjugate the verbs

There are three verbs below to show the conjugation of two -are verbs, -ere, and two –ire verbs.

These are the standard for how they should be conjugated, but don’t stick to these too much. You’ll find out why soon.

Parlare – to speak

IO parlai                                    NOI    parlammo

TU parlasti                               VOI    parlaste

LUI/LEI parlò                         ESSI/LORO    parlarono

— Coco Chanel e Captain Capel parlarono spesso della vita. – Coco Chanel and Captain Capel talked about life often.

— Per tutta la vita Paolo parlò del suo grande amore. – For all his life, Paolo talked about his big love.

— Il tempo passò senza che ce ne accorgessimo e parlammo tutta la notte. – Time passed without we realized, and we ended up talking all night long.

Diventare – to become

IO diventai                               NOI  diventammo

TU diventasti                           VOI   diventaste

LUI/LEI diventò                     ESSI/LORO  diventarono

— Parigi diventò la capitale della Francia nel 508 AD. – Paris became the capital of France in 508 AD.

— Con enormi sforzi Tommaso riuscì a diventare un poliziotto! – Tommaso managed to become a cop after an enormous effort!

— In pochissimo tempo Maria e Luca diventarono ottimi amici. – In a short time, Maria and Luca became great friends.

— Senza rendercene conto diventammo grandi! – Without realizing it, we became adults.

Partire –to leave

IO partii                                         NOI partimmo

TU partisti                                    VOI partiste

LUI/LEI partì                               ESSI/LORO partirono

— Yoko e John partirono per gli Stati Uniti nel 1971. – Yoko and John traveled to the United States in 1971.

— Partimmo per la Grecia il 6 maggio 1986. – We left for Greece on May 6, 1986.

— Senza lasciare nemmeno un biglietto Marta partì all’improvviso. – Marta left all of a sudden, without leaving a note.

Morire – to die

IO morii                                       NOI morimmo

TU moristi                                   VOI moriste

LUI/LEI morì                             ESSI/LORO morirono

— John Lennon morì nel 1980. – John Lennon died in 1981.

— In quel conflitto morirono migliaglia di persone. – Thousands of people died in that conflict.

Irregular verbs

There are FAR more irregular verbs than regular verbs in the passato remoto tense.

Let’s look at the most important verbs first.

Essere – to be

fui                    fummo

fosti                foste

fu                     furono

— Shakespeare fu un uomo di grande saggezza. – Shakespeare was a man of great wisdom.

— Quelli furono gli ultimi tramonti che amai con tutta me stessa. – Those were the last sunsets I loved with all my heart.

— Fummo pazzi ma felici. – We were crazy, but happy.

Avere – to have

ebbi                avemmo

avesti             aveste

ebbe               ebbero

— In seguito, ebbero un altro figlio. – Later, they had another son.

— Quel giorno ebbi un grosso spavento! – That day I was so scared!

— Per tutta l’estate avemmo cura del nostro piccolo gattino. – We took care of our little kitten all summer long.

Fare – to do/make

feci                 facemmo

facesti           faceste

fece                fecero

— Michelangelo fece mai la pasta fatta in casa? – Did Michelangelo ever made homemade pasta?

— Con pochi soldi fecero un matrimonio bellissimo. – They set up a beautiful wedding with little money.

— Feci tutto di nascosto. – I did everything secretly.

Stare – to stay/to be

stetti               stemmo

stesti              steste

stette              stettero

— Lui stette a guardarla in silenzio. – He kept looking at her in silence.

— Stettero a sedere nell’angolo tutta la sera. – They stayed sitting in the corner all night long.

— Un giorno stetti ad aspettare l’autobus per più di tre ore. – One day I stayed and waited for the bus for more than three hours.

Nascere – to be born

nacqui            nascemmo

nascesti        nasceste

nacque          nacquero

— Tre figli nacquero a Dante Alighieri e sua moglie Gemma. – Three children were born to Dante Alighieri and his wife Gemma.

— In questa piccola cittadina nacque mio padre. – My dad was born in this little town.

— Voi due non nasceste certo in un periodo fortunato! – You two weren’t definitely born during a lucky period!

Vivere – to live

vissi                vivemmo

vivesti             viveste

visse              vissero

— Boccaccio visse a Firenze. – Boccaccio lived in Florence.

— Vivemmo una storia d’amore indimenticabile! – We lived an unforgettable love story!

— Per quanto tempo viveste insieme? – For how long did you live together?

Scrivere – to write

scrissi             scrivemmo

scrivesti         scriveste

scrisse            scrissero

— Dante e Petrarca scrissero poesia. – Dante and Petrarch wrote poetry.

— Le scrissi una lettera per chiederle di sposarmi. –  I wrote her a letter to ask her to marry me.

— Giulia non mi scrisse mai più. – Giulia never wrote me again.

Dire – to say

dissi               dicemmo

dicesti           diceste

disse              dissero

— Cimabue disse: “L’allievo ha superato il maestro.” – Cimabue said: “The pupil has surpassed the teacher.”

— Le dissi di no! – I told her no!

— Dicemmo alla mamma di aver finito i compiti. – We told our mom that we had finished our homework.

Leggere – to read

lessi               leggemmo

leggesti         leggeste

lesse              lessero

— Molte persone lessero il libro scritto da Giovanni della Casa. – Many people read the book written by Giovanni della Casa.

— Durante la sua malattia lesse più di cento libri. – During his illness he read more than hundred books.

— Non sapevo che dire così le lessi un libro. – I didn’t know what to say so I read her a book.

— In quella vacanza leggesti “Guerra e pace”? – Did you read “Guerra e Pace” during that holiday?

As you can see it isn’t THAT bad.

Eventually there is some kind of pattern, but you just have to become familiar with the change the verb makes.

Questions/comments? Write to me below!