When learning Italian, using trapassato effectively might not be easy. In this article, we answered the 5 most frequently asked questions on its use. Read till the end, and trapassato will no longer be a problem for you!
5 Frequently Asked Questions about Italian TRAPASSATO
The topic of this article is TRAPASSATO: we’ll see how it’s formed and how to use it, and we’ll also clarify some common doubts concerning it.
1 – How many types of trapassato are there?
There are three types of trapassato, two in the indicative mood and one in subjunctive mood. In the indicative mood we have trapassato prossimo and trapassato remoto. In the subjunctive this tense is simply called trapassato.
Here’s some examples on the use of these tenses, in the order stated above:
Quando sei tornata a casa, io mi ero già addormentata. [trapassato prossimo]
Quando ebbe scoperto di aver perso, se ne andò. [trapassato remoto]
Non eravamo sicuri che la lettera vi fosse arrivata. [trapassato congiuntivo]
2 – How do you form trapassato?
Let’s see in detail how each type of trapassato is formed.
Trapassato prossimo of indicative is formed by the auxiliary verb (either essere or avere) in the imperfetto indicativo tense + the verb in participio passato.
Era stanco perché aveva studiato troppo.
Trapassato remoto of indicative is formed by the auxiliary verb in passato remoto + the verb in participio passato.
Non si fermò finché non fu arrivato alla meta.
Trapassato of congiuntivo is formed by the auxiliary in imperfetto congiuntivo + the verb in participio passato.
Nessuno ci avrebbe disturbato se tu avessi chiuso a chiave la porta.
3 – When and how do you use trapassato?
Trapassato is used to express a past action that occured prior to another action, which also occurred in the past. For this reason, it’s common to call it “passato nel passato” (past in the past).
Let’s take a look at the specific uses of the different types of trapassato.
Trapassato prossimo is the most common: it’s used to indicate an action that occured in the past, before another past action. The latter can be expressed in the imperfetto, passato prossimo or passato remoto of indicative.
Non volevamo fare i compiti che la professoressa ci aveva assegnato.
Ero appena uscita di casa quando hai chiamato.
Persi il volo perché avevo fatto tardi.
In short, trapassato “alone” is never used in a sentence, but is always joined by another verb.
However, there’s one exception… which occurs when the other past action is implied.
Bello quel murales! Non l’avevo notato (prima che lo notassi in quel momento).
Non avevo mai mangiato un piatto così buono (prima che lo mangiassi in quell’occasione).
According to grammar, trapassato remoto indicates an action that is concluded and doesn’t have any effects on the present, and that has taken place before another in the past. The latter is always expressed in the passato remoto of indicative.
This tense is only used in subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions such as dopo che, finché, non appena, quando.
Nowadays, trapassato remoto is rarely used, and is almost exclusively found in extremely formal written Italian. In informal settings, it’s more common to replace it with trapassato prossimo (just as passato remoto is often replaced with passato prossimo). In short, speakers no longer pay much attention to whether the action affects the present or not.
Dopo che ebbi saputo la notizia, le telefonai.
Continuò a parlare finché tutti furono usciti dalla stanza.
Solo dopo che ebbe visto l’appartamento, decise di comprarlo.
Congiuntivo trapassato also expresses temporal anteriority in respects to another moment in the past, but is used when subjunctive is required.
It’s used in subordinate clauses introduced by verbs in the past tense (indicativo imperfetto, passato prossimo o trapassato prossimo) or in the past conditional (condizionale passato). In some cases, it can also be found following a present conditional (condizionale presente).
It can be used in subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions such as senza che, malgrado, nonostante, a meno che, a condizione che.
Temevo che vi foste persi.
Ho pensato che mi avessero fatto uno scherzo.
Vorrei che tu mi avessi raccontato tutta la verità quel giorno.
Ci sarebbe piaciuto che loro fossero rimasti più tempo con noi.
4 – Can you use trapassato to talk about events that happened far back in time?
Straight answer: you can’t.
Many foreigners think that trapassato can be used to indicate a very distant time as it’s defined “passato nel passato”. However, there’s no correlation between this and remoteness in the past.
Trapassato itself only indicates anteriority in the past, but gives no indication of “how far” in time the events it describes occurred.
5 – Trapassato indicativo or trapassato congiuntivo? When do you use one and when the other?
To understand when each of these tenses should be used, you must take into consideration the tense in question and check the verb in the independent clause.
In cases where congiuntivo is needed (in independent clauses, to express possibilities, whishes, feelings, doubts, subjectivity…) you use trapassato congiuntivo.
Otherwise, you use trapassato indicativo.
Now that you’re an expert on the use of trapassato, you might also be interested in when to use subjunctive in Italian, when NOT to use it, or the 5 mistakes to avoid when using it!
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