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Passato Prossimo with Essere

Learn the smaller family of verbs — mostly movement — that use essere, and why the ending changes.

A smaller group of verbs — mostly about movement, staying, or change of state — take essere instead of avere. The good news: there are only about twenty common ones, and they're learnable as a set.

  • andare → andato (gone), venire → venuto (come)
  • arrivare → arrivato (arrived), partire → partito (left/departed)
  • nascere → nato (born), morire → morto (died)
  • restare / rimanere → restato / rimasto (stayed)

The ending agrees with the subject

Marco è andato al mare. Sara è andata in montagna.

Marco went to the beach. Sara went to the mountains.

andato for a man, andata for a woman — this agreement is unique to essere verbs and doesn't happen with avere.

With 'we' or a mixed/plural group, the ending becomes -i (masculine/mixed) or -e (all-feminine): siamo andati, siamo andate.

Vocabulary in this lesson

  • sono andato/a

    I went

    Sono andato al cinema.

  • sono arrivato/a

    I arrived

    Sono arrivata tardi.

  • sono nato/a

    I was born

    Sono nato a Roma.

  • sono rimasto/a

    I stayed

    Sono rimasta a casa.

Check yourself

Instant feedback as you answer each question.

A woman says "I arrived." Which is correct?
Which verb family typically uses essere?

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