Lesson 2 - passato prossimo e imperfetto Flashcards
when to use passato prossimo
action that begins in the past, and ends at a determined moment in the past
expressions of time that are used with passato prossimo
ieri, la settimana scorsa, l’anno scorso, lunedì scorso, due anni fa, un’ora fa, nel 1995
when to use l’imperfetto
1 Action that is not finished 2 Action that continues or lasts 3 Action that repeats in the past 4 A habit 5 Physical or mental description 6 With the preposition "da"
I went to the office every day (un’abitudine)
Andavo all’ufficio tutti i giorni
She lived in Milan when I met her (azine che dura)
Abitava a Milano quando ho fatto la sua conoscenza
My grandma was very nice and fun (descrizione)
Mia nonna era una persona molto simpatica e divertente
I was studying for 3 hours when my brother arrived (passato con “da”
Studiavo da tre ore quando è arrivato mio fratello
Expressions of time that are used with l’imperfetto
certe volte, generalmente, di solito, tutti i giorni, ogni giorno, sempre, spesso
Two actions that continue in the past:
While I drove, my sister read the map
Both imperfetto (Mentre guidavo, mia sorella leggeva la mappa)
Two actions that finish in the past
(Last Monday we saw a show and our kids went to an exhibition
Both passato prossimo
Lunedì scorso abbiamo visto uno spettacolo e i nostri figli sono andati a una mostra
An action continues in the past, and is interrupted by another action (Carlo was talking on the telephone when I arrived)
Imperfetto, interrupted by passato prossimo
Carlo parlava al telefono quando sono arrivata
transitive verbs (has a direct object)
Conjugate with avere
Reflexive verbs
Conjugate with essere
Referring to the action (I ran swiftly)
verbs such as correre, saltare, volare
Conjugate with avere (Ho corso velocemente)
Referring to the goal of the action (I ran home)
Conjugate with essere (Sono corso a casa)
