For those who speak english.... I need a question about the italian language????

Question

For the past tense, when do you know to use avere or essere?

For example:

ho avuto
ho visto

sono stata
sono restato

like for vedere (to see) how do you know to use the ESSERE or AVERE helping verb before it?
please, i am very confused. i would appreciate answers.

Answer 1

Ciao!

This is an excellent question. It really is worth investing time and practice to get this right at an early stage. The concept is quite foreign to English speakers ... I know people who have been studying Italian for 10 years who still can't get it right because they couldn't be bothered to do the work at the start!

I know it seems confusing, but it's not complicated at all really. Verbs which have a direct object ("transitive verbs") take "avere": Transitive verbs are about actions that people do to things.

Ho lavato la macchina - I washed the car
here, "la macchina" is the direct object of lavare
Ho tagliato la pizza - I cut the pizza -
here, "la pizza" is the direct object of tagliare
Ho svegliato il gatto - I woke the cat up
here, "il gatto" is the direct object of "svegliare"

But verbs which do not have a direct object ("intransitive verbs") take essere. A lot of intransitive verbs are about things that just "happen". Here we are not talking about you doing something to something else. That is the essential difference:
Sono restata tutta la notte - I stayed all night
Mi sono svegliata alle sette - I woke up at seven
Sono diventata pallida - I went pale
(nb, these examples all refer to a woman, see below)

Intransitive verbs also include reflexive verbs - a reflexive verb is a verb whose subject and object are rolled up in one person:

Mi sono lavato le mani (lavarsi, reflexive) - I washed my hands
or in your case, being a woman, mi sono lavata le mani

Mi sono tagliato il dito (tagliarsi, reflexive) - I cut my finger
or in your case, mi sono tagliata il dito

"Ah!" I hear you say, "but aren't my hands and my finger direct objects in these examples?" No, because they are part of you, the person performing the action!

Remember that the ending of the past participle (eg, lavato/lavata) only changes when essere is being used.

You asked about "vedere"... 95% of the times you need to use this verb, it's transitive and therefore takes "avere":
- Ho visto l'Italia e ne sono innamorato (I saw Italy and fell in love with her). There are three contexts in which "vedere" (and numerous verbs with similar functions, like "sentire" and "incontrare") is not transitive and therefore requires "essere":

- when the verb is used reflexively or reciprocally (ie, when the subject and the object of the verb are the same people):
- Hai visto Alissa?
- No, non ci siamo mai visti (we've never seen one another)
- No, non ci siamo mai incontrati (we've never met)

- when the verb is in the passive voice (just as in English, we also use the auxiliary verb "to be" for the passive):
- Hai visto Alissa?
- No, non e' stata vista da nessuno (she hasn't been seen)

- in some idioms, "pronominal verbs" which behave like reflexive verbs: the commonest with vedere is "vedersela", and "sentirsela" is quite common. You don't need to worry about these until your studies are well advanced, because you can manage quite well without them. Sometimes the examiners throw them into the A2 listening paper, but that's the thing that makes the difference between a 99% candidate and full marks. Just for completeness, here they are:
- Alissa era molto preoccupata ... se l'e' vista brutta.
(She was very worried ... it was a tough moment for her.)
- Sei andata al cinema ieri? (Did you go to the cinema?)
- No, non me la sono sentita. (No, I didn't feel like it.)

Once you've got the hang of deciding whether the verb has a direct object in the sentence in question, you will get the choice of avere and essere right 99% of the time. The other 1% is minor complications with some intransitive verbs like correre and piovere that can use either auxiliary depending on the context. But you shouldn't worry about that until you are reasonably proficient with the more basic rules - even Italians find those points difficult. Let me know now or in the future if you have any questions. I am bilingual. You are welcome to email me through Answers. Do let me know if you need book recommendations ... or a teacher!

Hope this helps...
Good luck!

*****PS - Don't take any notice of the thumbs down: I am a professional linguist and an experienced translator, as well as a fluent speaker of Italian. There are some people on this site who like messing around, for reasons which are known only to their small minds. :-)

Answer 2

Hi Alissa,

That's not too difficult. The rule is simple enough, i.e.

with AVERE all verbs with an accusative clause (the ones which might have an object, f.ex. I see -whom, what? - my frienda/a house).
In this case the perfect doesn't agree with the subject
Maria ha vistO la mamma
Paolo ha vistO il padre

Mostly all dative (to whom, to what) verbs take AVERE too:
Maria ha parlato a Mario / con Mario

with ESSERE all intransitive verbs + motion ones ( with these verbs the question whom/what made no sence)
In this case the perfect must agree with the subject's gender.
Also in English a perfect can be used as adjective. Exactly like that it agrees after ESSERE
Maria é statA in Canada
Paolo é statO a Londra.
Sono andatO a Praga (says Mario)
Sono tornatA da Parigi (says Maria)

ESSERE is a MUST for REFLEXIVE verbs (the ones used with myself, yourself etc...)

Maria ha lavato la macchina -
but
Maria si È lavatA.

ESSERE is also the verb used to build the passive voice.

Maria ha mangiato la mela - La mela È statA mangiatA da Maria
Paolo ha comperato il pane - Il pane È statO comperatO da Paolo

In Italian we often build a reflexive form not to express a such one but to express that we do that action ONLY for ourselves:

Maria ha comprato un gelato (it can be for her or for anybody else) - Compare: Mary bought an ice-cream
Maria si é compreratA un gelato (it is defenitely ONLY for her) - Compare: Mary bought herself an ice-cream
The form is a passive-like one, so ESSERE.

There is a particular construct with TRANSITIVE verbs in case you should set the object BEFORE the verb (this constiuction is used to underline the object, compare English, vegetables that's what I do not eat...)). In this case a second objective pronoun is requested soon before AVERE, which -in this only case- must agree with the gender of the objective clause, f.ex:

Maria ha mangiato la mela - standard clause
La mela Maria L'ha (= LA ha..) mangiatA .
Maria ha vistO le amiche - standard clause
Le amiche Maria LE ha vistE

Paolo ha comperato il pane - standard clause
Il pane LO ha comperatO Piero
Piero ha portato i libri - standard caluse
I libri LI ha portatI Pietro.

Impersonal verbs (like it rains, it snows, etc ...) may be used with both of them:
Ha/È nevicato
Ha/È piovuto
Ha/È grandinato
Ha/È tuonato ...

Resuming:

After a verb make yourself the question: whom/what? or to whom to what? I see ...? I think ... ? if it makes sence take AVERE
If it doesn't (I go ..? I return ...?) take ESSERE
If the verb is in a passive form -or a passive-like one- (= The table HAS BEEN/WAS BUILT in Spain // Mary bought herself an apple) use ALWAYS ESSERE

That's all.
.

Answer 3

Per i verbi transitivi,(cioè i verbi che rispondono alla domanda CHI? CHE COSA?) bisogna usare sempre l'ausiliare AVERE
for ex "Io HO ascoltato (chi?) Pamela"
"Piero HA letto (che cosa?) il racconto"

Mentre la maggior parte dei verbi intransitivi (cioè quelli che rispondono a tutto il resto,ma NON a chi? che cosa?) bisogna usare l'ausiliare ESSERE ..
for ex "Noi SIAMO andati (dove?) a Reggio Calabria"
" Ieri SONO tornata (da dove?) da Londra"
"SONO stata accompagnata (da chi?) da mio fratello
all'ospedale"
verbi transitivi= chi? che cosa? (ONLY)
verbi intransitivi= da dove? da chi? dove? etc..
ciao!

Answer 4

In general, if a verb can't have a passive form, you can use the auxiliary essere.

Answer 5

ask to Eric Fromm

Answer 6

there is some difficulty here, for, first of all you have to think in italian and learn it by heart!
on the other hand, those verbs indicating an action that go to s/g else, get the helper avere:
ho visto mio fratello=i've seen my brother.action goes to my brother.
when action is going back to one, like: sono andata al cinema=i've been to the movies, there you apply essere.
is it clear? if not, contact me!
ciao...john-john.-

Answer 7

hi, in general we use AVERE toghether with transitive verbs, like "HO mangiato una mela" or "la mamma HA cucinato". On the contrary, we use ESSERE with intransitive verbs "SONO uscito", "SEI andato a casa". Some verbs can be used both with AVERE and with ESSERE, depending on the meaning. you can say "SONO corso fin qui" but also "HO corso 200 metri". Or "HO salito le scale" and "SONO salito al quinto piano". Remember that if there's a direct complement, then use AVERE. Reflexive verbs need ESSERE. As concerns the declination of participle (as you said "sono stata", feminine, or "sono restato", masculine), you have to do it only with the verb ESSERE. But if the complement comes before the verb AVERE, then you have to do it: "Ho mangiatO una mela" but "L'ho mangiatA" (L'=LA, stands for "mela, so since it comes before "ho" you have to declinate the participle). Bye! i hope i was helpful!

Answer 8

You should learn by heart a list of verbs that require "avere" as their "ausiliare nei tempi composti", and a list of verbs that require "essere".

It's like learning the paradigm of the English verbs:
to say, said, said; to see, saw, seen.

Answer 9

I think you need to communicate with Italians ,but in italian language,then you will understand how to manage italian auxiliares .
E' PIOVUTO or HA PIOVUTO, both are accepted, but ,with a little difference of meaning.
Ciao! Comunica,comunica in italiano, welcome in our complicate language, dear.

Answer 10

If you use ho visto means that you have seen something if you use essere visto means that somebody saw you...sona stata means I have been I know it's hard to use the right verb in Italian the best way to learn is using the language if you have an Italian friend you can communicate until you will understand how to use the verbs ...another good way to learn is watch Italian movies you will get use to the language and will be spontaneous for you to know which one is the right verb. I'm Italian and I live in USA and for me is the same a big confusion...but everyday I learn more words....and everything makes more sense :)

Answer 11

Normally we use avere with the transitive verbs. Exemple: ho visto (what?) un albero (I've seen a tree) o Ho avuto (what?) un gatto. (I've had a cat.) Ho visto (who?) Maria (I've seen Maria)
Sono stata (what? Here I can't ask me "what" because it's not a transitive verb. I can ask me Where? or How but not what or who)
There are exceptions but this is the general rule.
Kisses