Past Participles

01

Formation of Regular Past Participles

For regular verbs, the past participle is formed by removing the infinitive ending (-ARE, -ERE, or -IRE) and adding a specific suffix.

-ARE verbs add -ato

• parlare → parlato

  spoken

• comprare → comprato

  bought

-ERE verbs add -uto

• vendere → venduto

  sold

• ricevere → ricevuto

  received

-IRE verbs add -ito

• finire → finito

  finished

• dormire → dormito

  slept

02

Common Irregular Past Participles

Many common verbs, particularly those ending in -ERE, have irregular past participles. These must be memorized.

Here are some of the most frequent ones:

• aprire → aperto - opened
• chiedere → chiesto - asked
• chiudere → chiuso - closed
• correre → corso - run
• decidere → deciso - decided
• dire → detto - said
• essere → stato - been
• fare → fatto - done/made
• leggere → letto - read
• mettere → messo - put
• nascere → nato - born
• prendere → preso - taken
• rimanere → rimasto - remained
• rispondere → risposto - answered
• scrivere → scritto - written
• vedere → visto - seen
• venire → venuto - come
• vincere → vinto - won

03

Use in Compound Tenses

The past participle combines with a present-tense form of avere (to have) or essere (to be) to form the passato prossimo, the most common past tense. The choice between avere and essere depends on the main verb.

Verbs using avere

Most verbs use avere. These are typically transitive verbs, meaning they can take a direct object (they answer the question "what?" or "whom?").

• Ho letto un libro.

  I read a book. (I read what? A book.)

• Avete visto il film?

  Did you all see the movie? (You saw what? The movie.)

• Maria ha comprato una macchina nuova.

  Maria bought a new car.

Verbs using essere

Verbs that use essere are typically intransitive and fall into several categories:

• Verbs of movement: andare (to go), venire (to come), partire (to leave), arrivare (to arrive), entrare (to enter), uscire (to exit).
• Verbs of staying or being: essere (to be), stare (to stay), rimanere (to remain).
• Verbs of change of state: nascere (to be born), morire (to die), diventare (to become).
• All reflexive verbs: svegliarsi (to wake up), vestirsi (to get dressed).

• Siamo andati al mercato.

  We went to the market.

• Lei è nata in Italia.

  She was born in Italy.

• Mi sono alzato presto.

  I got up early.

04

Agreement of the Past Participle

The ending of the past participle sometimes changes to agree in gender and number with the subject or object.

With the auxiliary essere

When a verb uses essere, the past participle must agree with the subject of the verb.

• Masculine singular: -o
• Feminine singular: -a
• Masculine plural: -i
• Feminine plural: -e

• Marco è arrivato.

  Marco (masc.) has arrived.

• Maria è arrivata.

  Maria (fem.) has arrived.

• Marco e Paolo sono arrivati.

  Marco and Paolo (masc. pl.) have arrived.

• Maria e Sofia sono arrivate.

  Maria and Sofia (fem. pl.) have arrived.

With the auxiliary avere

Generally, when a verb uses avere, the past participle does not change.

• Luca ha mangiato la pizza.

  Luca ate the pizza.

• Lucia ha mangiato la pizza.

  Lucia ate the pizza.

However, the past participle must agree with the direct object if the direct object is a pronoun (lo, la, li, le) that comes before the verb.

• Hai letto il libro?

  Yes, I read it. (letto agrees with il libro)

• Hai comprato la frutta?

  Yes, I bought it. (comprata agrees with la frutta)

• Hai visto i miei amici?

  Yes, I saw them. (visti agrees with amici)

05

Past Participles as Adjectives

When used as an adjective, the past participle describes a noun and must agree with it in gender and number, just like any other adjective.

• La porta è chiusa.

  The door is closed.

• Preferisco il pesce fritto.

  I prefer fried fish.

• Ho trovato le chiavi perdute.

  I found the lost keys.