Implied here is something like (Ora ti ho visto, ma prima) non ti avevo visto [i.e.
I’ve seen you now, but I hadn’t before].
Implied here is something like Non ti avevo sentito (ma ora ti ho sentito) [i.e. I
hadn’t heard you before, but I have now].
Forming the past perfect
3 The past perfect in Italian is formed with the imperfect indicative of avere
or essere (auxiliary verbs) followed by the past participle of the verb. Here are
two examples, one using avere and the other essere:
4 As regards agreement of the past participle, the past perfect obeys exactly
the same rules as the present perfect: if the auxiliary is avere the past parti-
ciple does not change; but if it is essere the past participle behaves like an
adjective, agreeing in gender and number with the subject of the verb, as in
these examples:
Scusa, non ti avevo visto! È molto
che aspetti?
Sorry, I didn’t see you. Have you been
waiting long?
Scusa, non ti avevo sentito. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.
Imperfect of avere
(io) avevo
(tu) avevi
(lui/lei) aveva
(noi) avevamo
(voi) avevate
(loro) avevano
Past participle of scrivere
scritto
scritto
scritto
scritto
scritto
scritto
I had written
you had written
he/she/it had written
we had written
you had written
they had written
Imperfect of essere
(io) ero
(tu) eri
(lui/lei) era
(noi) eravamo
(voi) eravate
(loro) erano
Past participle of andare
andato/andata
andato/andata
andato/andata
andati/andate
andati/andate
andati/andate
I had gone
you had gone
he/she/it had gone
we had gone
you had gone
they had gone
Avere
Livia aveva guardato la televisione.
Avevi comprato il pane?
Aveva prenotato, Signor Ferro?
Livia had watched television.
Had you bought the bread?
Had you booked, Mr Ferro?