- The passato remoto, like the passato prossimo, is used to convey an action that was definitively completed during a certain time in the past. It differs from the imperfetto in the same ways as the passato prossimo.
Era una bella giornata quando nacque il poeta.
It was a beautiful day when the poet was born.
Dante aveva più di trenta anni quando scrisse la Divina Commedia.
Dante was more than thirty years old when he wrote the Divine Comedy. - The general rules governing the use of the passato prossimo are as follows.
- If the action took place in a period of time which has not yet been completed (a day, a month, even a year), or if the action still somehow affects the present, the passato prossimo must be used.
Ieri ho comprato delle mele buonissime.
Yesterday I bought some really good apples.
Abbiamo completato il progetto, ma c’è sempre lavoro da fare.
We completed the project, but there is still work to do. - If the action took place during a period of time which has ended and has no continuing effect on the present, the passato remote may be used.
Michelangelo morì nel 1564.
Michelangelo died in 1564.
Credemmo alle sue parole.
We believed in his words. - In the previous examples we can see that the passato remoto indicates events that we consider to be far from our current reality, whereas the passato prossimo communicates an event that is still close to us, or still affects us in the present day.
Ultimately, what dictates the choice between the use of passato prossimo and passato remoto is the perceived distance from the narrated event and this distance does not necessarily have to be chronological. In fact, some events that are seemingly far removed from us time-wise can actually be perceived as conceptually close to us. Take a look at the following example.L’invenzione della ruota ha avuto un ruolo fondamentale nello sviluppo della civiltà.
The invention of the wheel played a key role in the development of civilization.
- If the action took place in a period of time which has not yet been completed (a day, a month, even a year), or if the action still somehow affects the present, the passato prossimo must be used.
- Usage of the passato remoto varies from region to region within Italy. In most of Northern Italy, it is rarely used in conversation. In the South, the passato remote is used frequently in conversation, regardless of how recently an event happened. It is, however, commonly used throughout the country in literary and historical writing. It is important to learn this tense, less because you will use it on a daily basis, and more because it is imperative to understanding literary texts and to writing formally.
Ma la donna era orgogliosa e non tornò indietro; e a tutte le sue conoscenze mandò la cartolina illustrata dove si vedeva questa sua villa che rassomigliava a lei; bella ed elegante di fuori, e dentro piena di topi e di pipistrelli.
-- Grazia Deledda, Il flauto nel bosco
But the woman was proud and wouldn’t go back. To all of her acquaintances she sent an illustrated postcard where one could see the villa, which looked like herself: beautiful and elegant on the outside, and inside full of mice and bats.
Ma come il treno le passò davanti lei non guardò dalla nostra parte (eppure era là ad aspettare forse da un’ora) bensì teneva la testa voltata indietro badando a un uomo che arrivava di corsa dal fondo della via e urlava qualcosa che noi naturalmente non potemmo udire: come se accorresse a precipizio per avvertire la donna di un pericolo. Ma fu un attimo: la scena volò via....
--Dino Buzzati, Qualcosa era successo
As the train passed by in front of her, she didn’t look our way (yet she was perhaps waiting there for an hour). She kept her head turned around, looking at a man arriving in a hurry from the end of the street who was yelling something that we, naturally, couldn’t hear. It was as if he were rushing to her aid, to warn her of some danger. But it was only an instant, and the scene flew by....