Italian grammar · Upper intermediate (B2)
The passato remoto: the narrative past
How to recognise and form the passato remoto, its common irregular verbs, and where Italians use it in writing and in speech.
What it is and where you meet it
The is a past tense for actions that are finished and far away in time. It translates like the passato prossimo: (Garibaldi landed in Sicily), (I read it as a girl).
It's the normal tense of novels, history books, biographies and fairy tales, which set the scene with the imperfetto (…, Once upon a time…) and then tell the story in the passato remoto. In conversation, northern Italians almost always use the passato prossimo instead. In much of the south, especially Sicily and Calabria, people also use it when they speak, and in Tuscany it's also still heard in conversation. For most learners, recognising it is the priority.
Regular forms
Take the infinitive without -are, -ere, -ire and add the endings. The / forms carry a written accent: . Many -ere verbs have two possible forms in , / and : / , / , / .
| Person | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / | |||
| / | / | ||
| / |
Irregular verbs
is irregular throughout: . Most other irregular verbs follow a “1-3-3” pattern: only the , / and forms are irregular, and they share the same stem. The other forms are regular: → .
works the same way: . has / , / , / , and has .
| Infinitive | / | ||
|---|---|---|---|
- Dante nacque a Firenze nel 1265.Dante was born in Florence in 1265.
- Il libro uscì nel 1958 ed ebbe subito successo.The book came out in 1958 and was an immediate success.
- Ci conoscemmo a Palermo tanti anni fa.We met in Palermo many years ago. (southern speech)
Passato remoto or passato prossimo?
In standard written Italian, the passato remoto is for a past with no link to the present, and the passato prossimo for a past that still matters now or is recent: but .
In speech, the choice depends on the region. If you use the passato prossimo in conversation, you'll always be understood and sound natural everywhere.