Lesson 4, part 5: The verb: Past tense in italian, different kind of

 Italian Past Tense, Imperfetto, Perfect, and Remote Past

The most common way of expressing the past tense in Italian is with the "passato prossimo" (present perfect), composed of an auxiliary verb (avere or essere) and the past participle. It is the verb tense most commonly used when referring to the past in spoken Italian. The following are perfectly correct and used expressions using the "passato prossimo":
Ieri ho mangiato una bistecca con patate (Literally: Yesterday I have eaten a steak with potatoes)
La settimana scorsa siamo andati in spiaggia (Literally: Last week we have gone to the beach)
Dove siete stati tutta la notte? (Literally: Where have you been all night?)
Cosa hai fatto questo pomeriggio? (Literally: What have you done this afternoon?)
However, there are other two tenses used to express actions which took place in the past: the "imperfetto" and the "passato remoto".
Imperfetto

The "imperfetto" is typically used to express:
- Continuous or habitual actions in the past: "Quando ero in Italia andavo al ristorante tutti i venerdì" (When I was in Italy I went to the restaurant every Friday). If the action is not habitual in the past, we would use the past perfect: "Quando sono stato in Italia l'anno scorso, sono andato al ristorante tre volte" (When I have gone to Italy last year, I have been to the restaurant three times)
- Descriptions in the past: "Negli anni '50 Venezia aveva una popolazione di 150.000 abitanti" (In the '50s Venice had a population of 150,000 inhabitants).
- Physical, mental or emotional state in the past: "Da bambino avevo paura del buio" (When I was a child I was afraid of the dark).
The "imperfetto" is quite regular and is built by stripping the infinite of the verb of the suffix -re and adding the "imperfetto" suffixes, as follows:

Passato remoto

The "passato remoto" is used to express events or actions in a distant past, for which there is a perceived "remoteness" and no perceived connection with the present. It is rarely used in spoken Italian, while it is very common in written form, especially in newspapers, novels and essays. In some Italian regions, such as Tuscany and most of southern Italy, it is used also in normal conversation, substituting the past perfect.
The regular verbs are conjugated as follows:
Mangiare

Ricevere

Finire

Mangi-ai

Ricev-ei

Fin-ii

Mangi-asti

Ricev-esti

Fin-isti

Mangi-ò

Ricev-è

Fin-ì

Mangi-ammo

Ricev-emmo

Fin-immo

Mangi-aste

Ricev-este

Fin-iste

Mangi-arono

Ricev-erono

Fin-irono

Many of the verbs ending in -ere also have alternative forms that are acceptable:
Ricevere

Ricev-etti

Ricev-esti

Ricev-ette

Ricev-emmo

Ricev-este

Ricev-ettero

The auxiliary verbs "essere" and "avere" are irregular:
Essere

Avere

Fui

Ebbi

Fosti

Avesti

Fu

Ebbe

Fummo

Avemmo

Foste

Aveste

Furono

Ebbero

Many other verbs are irregular in the "passato remoto":
Vincere

Piangere

Ridere

Scegliere

Volere

Bere

Vinsi

Piansi

Risi

Scelsi

Volli

Bevvi

Vincesti

Piangesti

Ridesti

Scegliesti

Volesti

Bevesti

Vinse

Pianse

Rise

Scelse

Volle

Bevve

Vincemmo

Piangemmo

Ridemmo

Scegliemmo

Volemmo

Bevemmo

Vinceste

Piangeste

Rideste

Sceglieste

Voleste