- Passato prossimo with essere: "Che cosa hai fatto il fine settimana?"

- These are usually verbs that don't take a direct object.

- In general, they convey a motion, or a lack of motion, or a process of change.

Here are some of them:

andare

venire

partire

uscire

arrivare

entrare

tornare (ritornare)

stare

essere

nascere

rimanere

cadere

sparire

(This is not a complete list. Many verbs can take either essere or avere, depending on the sentence.)

- Passato prossimo with "essere": Making the past participle agree with the subject (in the past): If the auxiliary is essere, you have to change the last letter of the past participle to agree in gender and number with the subject. (See practice set 86).

Maria è andata al cinema.

Mario è andato al cinema.

Siamo tornati all'hotel.

Le ragazze sono arrivate.

Sono uscita. - I went out (feminine).

Sono uscito. - I went out (masculine).

Conjugate the first verb, and use the infinitive for the second verb:

Preferisco camminare. -  I prefer to walk.

Some verbs don’t require a preposition:

preferire – to prefer to...

sapere – to know how to...

dovere – must...

potere – may...

volere – to want to ...

Some verbs require the preposition “a”  or “di” between them and the infinitive:

andare a... – to go to...  - Va a trovarla – He’s going to go visit her.

venire a... – to come to...  - Quando mi viene a trovare? – When are you coming to see me?

cominciare a... – to begin to... - Ho cominciato a lavorare. - I started working.

finire di... - to finish doing something - Ha finito di pranzare. - She finished eating lunch.

sperare di... - to hope to do something - Speriamo di uscire. - We hope to go out.

pensare di... - to think about doing something - Penso di viaggiare. - I'm thinking of travelling.

-Handouts. Click here for the complete list of the handouts you should have this term.

16. (ivory) "Oggi, Voi..."

17. (yellow) "Al presente, oggi..."

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-Compiti (homework)

1. Passato prossimo" From the handout #16 (ivory Oggi, Voi) On the question "They are following us." here is a clue: "Ci" is "us", and it is placed before the verb. Some verbs have irregular past participles: fare, decidere, sorridere, ridere, smettere... click here for the answers

2. Passato prossimo with essere. Read, starting on page 220. Do Practice Set 86.

3. Passato prossimo with essere. On handout 17 (yellow), translate into Italian, using the present tense and the passato prossimo with essere. Some of these verbs have irregular past participles: see page 220. click here for the answers

4. Two verbs in a sentence. See page 190, and the section above on this webpage.

Translate these sentences into Italian. We'll correct them in class.

a. They prefer to stay home.

b. I'm learning to forgive.

c. We must go downtown.

d. It's starting to rain. (piovere)

e. I'm thinking of going to Sicily.

f. I'm going to visit my family.

g. I'm thinking of going to visit my family.

5. Purple two-way exercise. (handout 8: "Scusi, c'è un bagno qui?" Take a look at this handout, because there is going to be a quiz!

6. The handouts from last week: Reading (yellow) I hope we have time next week to go over this.

7. Preposizioni. Translate these sentences into Italian: (We'll correct them in class)

a. He went to Pisa by train.

b. They came from Pisa last week.

c. We rented a car to go to Pisa.

d. She rented a house in the country. (in campagna)

e. They rented a house in the city. (in città)

f. We're going to Venice in two weeks. (tra)

g. We're going to Venice for two weeks. (per)

h. We've been in Venice for two weeks. Siamo a Venezia da due settimane.

8. Reflessivi. Practice saying these out loud, until they flow. Exaggerate your intonation. Make it like a song. Enjoy saying it, piano piano.

a. Com'è andata la festa?

b. È andata benissimo!

c. Mi sono divertita un sacco!!

d. Anche Dario si è divertito molto!

e. Tutti si sono divertiti tanto!!

f. La mamma si è divertita. Il papà si è divertito.

g. Solamente Silvio non si è divertito.

h. Ci siamo divertiti un mondo!

9. Partitivo ("di" plus the article). read page 133. Do Practice Set 40. This exercise uses colors, they are listed on page 114.

10. Preposizioni: Tra, Fra, and Da with time. Read starting on page 149, and do Practice Set 53. (This exercise also includes "da" with time.)

11. Stare plus the gerund. Practice saying these aloud:

a. Che cosa stai facendo?

b. Sto guardando il tramonto.

c. E Lei, Signor Rossi! Che cosa sta facendo?

d. Sto ascoltando una canzone bellissima!

e. E tu, Francesca! Che cosa stai facendo?

f. Sto camminando in centro.