Italiano — Passato remoto
The passato remoto is a simple past tense used mainly for narrative and literary storytelling, for events felt as completed and detached from the present, as in visse a Roma per dieci anni.
How it works
Regular verbs take the vowel of their conjugation in the endings: -are gives parlai, parlasti, parlò; -ere gives credei/credetti, credesti, credé/credette; -ire gives partii, partisti, partì. Many common verbs are irregular in the 1st and 3rd persons singular and the 3rd plural, following a "1-3-3" pattern (feci, facesti, fece, facemmo, faceste, fecero).
Examples
| Verb | Passato remoto (io / tu / lui-lei) |
|---|---|
| parlare (-are) | parlai / parlasti / parlò |
| credere (-ere) | credei (credetti) / credesti / credé (credette) |
| partire (-ire) | partii / partisti / partì |
| essere | fui / fosti / fu |
| avere | ebbi / avesti / ebbe |
| fare | feci / facesti / fece |
| dire | dissi / dicesti / disse |
| venire | venni / venisti / venne |
Good to know
In everyday speech, especially in the north, the passato prossimo (ho fatto) usually replaces the passato remoto (feci); the remoto stays alive in the south, in narration and in writing. A common mistake is over-regularizing irregulars: for venire the 1st singular is venni, not the wrong "venni/venisti" mix — remember only 1st sg., 3rd sg. and 3rd pl. are irregular (venni, venne, vennero), while tu and voi stay regular (venisti, veniste).