The Passato Remoto in Italian: A Dive into the Past

The Passato Remoto is an Italian past tense of the modo indicativo.

The Passato Remoto (io mangiai, “I ate” in a distant past) indicates an event considered outside of its duration and concluded in the past, with no connections with the present.

Similarly to its counterpart, the Passato Prossimo, it collaborates seamlessly with the imperfetto. Together, they encapsulate a complete action within an ongoing scenario.

• Quando ero bambino, una volta andai in vacanza in Grecia.

Discussions revolve around the Passato Remoto and its classification as a linguistic “endangered species.” In recent decades, the prevalence of this tense in spoken and written Italian has diminished. The shift towards less formal and intricate Italian, especially in Northern Italy, has played a role in its decline.

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Andrea del Sarto  – Ritratto maschile – 1528