Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)
VERBS
12. The past historic
What is the past historic?
The past historic is equivalent to the English simple past, except that it is only used in written Italian. In spoken Italian the perfect tense is used to talk about the past.
Recognizing the past historic
You do not need to learn the past historic (il passato remoto), since you will never need to use it. However, you may come across it in written Italian. To help you recognize it, here are the past historic forms of essere (meaning to be), avere (meaning to have), parlare (meaning to speak), credere (meaning to believe) and partire (meaning to leave).
|
Past historic |
Meaning |
Past historic |
Meaning |
||
|
(io) |
fui |
I was |
ebbi |
I had |
|
|
(tu) |
fosti |
you were |
avesti |
you had |
|
|
(lui/lei) |
fu |
he/she was |
ebbe |
he/she had |
|
|
(noi) |
fummo |
we were |
avemmo |
we had |
|
|
(voi) |
foste |
you were |
aveste |
you had |
|
|
(loro) |
furono |
they were |
ebbero |
they had |
|
|
Ci fu un improvviso silenzio |
There was a sudden silence when |
||||
|
quando entrai nella stanza. |
I came into the room. |
||||
|
Non ebbero nessuna speranza. |
They had no hope. |
||||
|
Past historic |
Meaning |
Past historic |
Meaning |
|||
|
(io) |
parlai |
I spoke |
credei or credetti |
I believed |
||
|
(tu) |
parlasti |
you spoke |
credesti |
you believed |
||
|
(lui/lei) |
parlò |
he/she spoke |
credé or |
he/she believed |
||
|
(noi) |
parlammo |
we spoke |
credemmo |
we believed |
||
|
(voi) |
parlaste |
you spoke |
credeste |
you believed |
||
|
(loro) |
parlarono |
they spoke |
crederono or |
they believed |
||
|
Past historic of partire |
Meaning |
|||||
|
(io) |
partii |
I left |
||||
|
(tu) |
partisti |
You left |
||||
|
(lui/lei) |
partì |
he/she left |
||||
|
(noi) |
partimmo |
we left |
||||
|
(voi) |
partiste |
You left |
||||
|
(loro) |
partirono |
they left |
||||
|
Parlò piano. |
He spoke slowly. |
|
Non lo credettero. |
They did not believe it. |
|
Partì in fretta. |
He left hastily. |
Key points
you will come across the past historic in written Italian.
It is translated by the English simple past.