Past Perfect · 5f171d4bbce740de505d886293a8ec22
Quando avevate parlato?
In English, we can say I had used or I had worked when we’re talking about something we don’t do anymore. You can do basically the same thing in Italian!
First, use the past form of avere that matches who you're talking about.
| avere to have |
|
|---|---|
| io | avevo (I) had |
| tu | avevi (you) had |
| lui / lei | aveva (he / she) had |
| noi | avevamo (we) had |
| voi | avevate (you all) had |
| loro | avevano (they) had |
Then you'll change the next verb ending to ‑ato, ‑uto, or ‑ito.
Avevo aspettato quell'autobus.
I had waited for that bus.
Pochi avevano creduto.
Few had believed.
Il lupo ci aveva seguito tutta la notte.
The wolf had followed us the whole night.
To Have or To Be?
The past of avere plus a verb is used to say things like io avevo parlato, which means I had spoken.
But some verbs that talk about motion (like venire and andare) use essere instead of avere.
Eri venuto dalla città.You had come from the city.
Come pensavamo, lui era andato all'estero.
As we thought, he had gone abroad.
Verbs that include extra little words, like mi ero ricordato, also use essere in these cases.
Lui si era ricordato del mio compleanno.He had remembered my birthday.
I dolci mi erano piaciuti molto.
I had liked the desserts a lot.
Non era stato un problema
Remember that verbs that use the past of essere have different endings depending on who is doing what. The endings change depending on gender...
Lui era passato sotto il ponte.
He had passed under the bridge.
Lei era andata a scuola con i genitori e le due sorelle.
She had gone to school with her parents and two sisters.
...and they also change depending on whether you’re talking about one person or multiple people.
I ragazzi erano entrati senza biglietti.
The boys had entered without tickets.
Quasi tutte le mucche erano arrivate.
Almost all the cows had arrived.