What is it?

The passato prossimo is a compound past tense consisting of an auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb. In Italian, the auxiliary verb can either be avere or essere.

Il passato prossimo con avere

Transitive verbs (i.e. verbs that take a direct object and/or respond to the questions What? or Who?) take the auxiliary verb avere in the passato prossimo.

The past participle is formed by making the following changes and is invariable in verbs that take avere:

Il passato prossimo con essere

Intransitive verbs (i.e. verbs that do not take a direct object) take the auxiliary verb essere in the passato prossimo. The past participle is formed in the same way as verbs that go with avere. Many verbs that take essere are verbs of movement or states/transformations of being.

When a verb takes essere in the passato prossimo, its past participle changes according to the gender and number of the subject.

The following verbs take essere in the passato prossimo:

andare – to go

arrivare – to arrive

cadere – to fall

diventare – to become

entrare – to enter

essere – to be

morire – to die

nascere-to be born

partire – to depart

restare – to stay

rimanere- to remain

(ri)tornare – to return

salire – to go up

scendere – to go down

stare – to stay

uscire – to go out, exit

venire – to come

vivere – to live

All reciprocal and reflexive verbs also use essere in the passato prossimo (ex – alzarsi, abbracciarsi, etc.)