Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

• When the polite form is used and the auxiliary is essere, the past participle
  agrees with the gender of the person being spoken to, not with Lei.

Past perfect of avere and essere

5 Avere forms the past perfect with the auxiliary avere:

Essere forms the past perfect with the auxiliary essere:

Essere

Monica era uscita. [fs]

Pietro era stato malato. [ms]

Fabia e Silvia erano rimaste a casa.

[fp]

Giulia e Sebastiano erano partiti.

[mp]

Ero andata al cinema. [fs]

Eravamo arrivati tardi. [mp]

Signor Poli, Lei quando era

arrivato?* [ms]

Signora Poli, Lei quando era

arrivata?* [fs]

Monica had gone out.

Pietro had been ill.

Fabia and Silvia had stayed at home.

Giulia and Sebastiano had left.

I had been/gone to the cinema. [the

speaker is female]

We had arrived late. [the speakers are

males or a mixed group]

When had you arrived, Mr Poli?

When had you arrived, Mrs Poli?

avevo avuto

avevi avuto

aveva avuto

avevamo avuto

avevate avuto

avevano avuto

I had had

you had had

he/she/it had had

we had had

you had had

they had had

ero stato/stata

eri stato/stata

era stato/stata

eravamo stati/state

eravate stati/state

erano stati/state

I had been

you had been

he/she/it had been

we had been

you had been

they had been

Non aveva avuto tempo di finire il

lavoro.

Tanya aveva avuto la varicella.

He hadn’t had time to finish the job.

Tanya had had chickenpox.