Talking about the past

The "passato remoto" tense largely corresponds to Eng. "simple past": it is a simple tense (no auxiliaries required) and refers to states or actions that occurred some time ago. However, a large (and increasing) number of speakers prefer the "passato prossimo" (literally, 'near past') even when they talk about remote events.

The "passato prossimo" tense is a compound tense, with the present tense of "avere" or "essere" followed by the past participle of the main verb. This tense is becoming the default tense to describe past events.

According to the standard traditional rule the correct sentence is "Ieri comperai uno smartphone nuovo" ( I bought a new smartphone yesterday) but most people, especially in the Northern regions of Italy, usually say "Ieri ho comperato uno smartphone nuovo" or even "Ci siamo sposati nel 1970" ( We got married in 1970).

If the auxiliary is "essere" the past participle agrees with the subject for gender and number, so "sono andata" shows that the subject is a f. person.

There is another simple tense referring to the past, called "imperfetto". It corresponds to Eng. progressive/continuous past, for actions or states that were going on at a certain time in the past or while something was going on: "Camminavo nel parco quando ricevetti la sua telefonata" ( I was walking in the park when I got his phone call); "Pioveva forte, così siamo rimasti a casa" ( It was raining hard, so we stayed at home).

The "imperfetto indicativo" also refers to habitual conditions or repeated actions in the past - in this respect it is similar to the "used to" forms in Eng.: "Quando ero giovane, andavo spesso a sciare" ( When I was young, I often went skiing); "La nonna ci raccontava di quando viveva in Irlanda" ( Grandma used to tell us about when she lived in Ireland).

The consonant "v" is a typical mark of "imperfetto" endings.

Actions that happened before other actions in the past or before a given time are described by means of the "trapassato" tense. The "imperfetto" of the auxiliary verb is followed by the past participle of the main verb: "Ero stanco perché avevo lavorato molto"( I was tired because I had worked a lot); "Alle tre aveva già finito i compiti" ( At three p.m. she had already finished her homework).

To be exact, this is the "trapassato prossimo"; the "trapassato remoto", using the "passato remoto" for the auxiliary verb, is much less frequent: "Quando se ne fu andato, ci accorgemmo che aveva dimenticato la borsa" ( When he had gone, we noticed he had left his briefcase).