| MODO PARTICIPIO | ||
| Tempo Presente | Tempo Passato | |
| amante (lover) | amato (loved) |
The participle in Italian has a present (participio presente) and a past form (participio passato).
The present form can be replaced by a relative pronoun and the according verb: “il bambino ridente”, “il bambino che ride” (the child who laughs).
The past form may be used “almost as an adjective” or, in combination with “essere” or “avere” to create other forms of past like the “passato prossimo, passato remoto”, etc… (recent past, remote past…): “Il bicchiere rotto” (the broken glass); “ho rotto il bicchiere” (I have broken the glass).
When the participle is “used as an adjective” it must agree in gender and number with the noun to whom it refers: “il bicchiere rotto, i bicchieri rotti” (the broken glass, the broken glasses).
PARTICIPIO PRESENTE
The present participle of verbs ending with “are”, “ere”, “ire” is formed by adding “ante”, “ente”, “ente” to the stems of the infinitive.
| 1st Conjugation | 2nd Conjugation | 3rd Conjugation | |||
| Infinito in ARE: cant-are (to sing) | Participio presente: cant-ante (singer, singing) | Infinito in ERE: piang-ere (to cry) | Participio presente: piang-ente (crying) | Infinito in IRE: divertire (to amuse) | Participio presente: divert-ente (amusing) |
PARTICIPIO PASSATO
Participio passato of regular verbs
The past participle of verbs ending with “are”, “ere”, “ire” is formed by adding “ato”, “ito”, “uto” to the stems of the infinitive.
| 1st Conjugation | 2nd Conjugation | 3rd Conjugation | |||
| Infinito in ARE: ball-are (to dance) | Participio passato: ball-ato (danced) | Infinito in ERE: vol-ere (to want) | Participio passato: vol-uto (wanted) | Infinito in IRE: dorm-ire (to sleep) | Participio passato: dorm-ito (slept) |
PARTICIPIO PASSATO OF IRREGULAR VERBS
Several verbs have an irregular past participle:
| 1th Conjugation | 2nd Conjugation | 3rd Conjugation |
| dare -> dato (given) | bere -> bevuto (drunk) | aprire ->aperto (opened) |
| fare -> fatto (done, made) | cadere -> caduto (fell) | dire -> detto (said, told) |
| stare -> stato (been) | chiedere -> chiesto (asked) | morire -> morto (dead) |
| chiudere -> chiuso (closed) | offrire -> offerto (offered) | |
| decidere -> deciso (decided) | salire -> salito (climbed, went up) | |
| dipingere -> dipinto (painted) | venire -> venuto (come) | |
| essere -> stato (been) | ||
| leggere -> letto (read) | ||
| mettere -> messo (put, placed) | ||
| nascere -> nato (born) | ||
| perdere -> perso (lost) | ||
| prendere -> preso (taken) | ||
| rimanere -> rimasto (remained) | ||
| rispondere -> risposto (answered) | ||
| scegliere -> scelto (chosen) | ||
| scrivere -> scritto (written) | ||
| spendere -> speso (spent) | ||
| vedere -> visto/veduto (seen) |
| Essere -> stato (been) | Avere -> avuto (had) |