As you know, the passato prossimo is formed with an auxiliary verb (essere or avere) + the past participle of the main verb. Most past participles follow a simple rule (parlare → parlato, credere → creduto, dormire → dormito), but some verbs, our “rebels”, have irregular past participles that you simply need to learn.
The good news: many of them are irregular in English too (to do → done, to write → written, to see → seen), and many follow small patterns that make them much easier to remember.
In short
- Regular participles: -are → -ato, -ere → -uto, -ire → -ito.
- The most common irregular ones: fatto, detto, visto, preso, messo, scritto, letto, stato.
- Many irregular participles share an ending, like -tto, -so or -sto: learn them in groups.
- The auxiliary doesn’t change: ho fatto, sono venuta, è nato.
- With essere, the participle agrees with the subject: Maria è venuta.
The most common irregular past participles
These are the ones you’ll hear and use every day:
- fare → fatto → to do → done
- dire → detto → to say → said
- vedere → visto → to see → seen
- scrivere → scritto → to write → written
- leggere → letto → to read → read
- essere → stato → to be → been
The full list of irregular passato prossimo verbs
Here is a list of the most common irregular past participles in Italian, with the auxiliary each verb takes. The English column gives the infinitive and the past participle.
| Infinitive | Past participle | Auxiliary | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| essere | stato | essere | to be → been |
| fare | fatto | avere | to do, to make → done, made |
| dire | detto | avere | to say, to tell → said, told |
| vedere | visto | avere | to see → seen |
| scrivere | scritto | avere | to write → written |
| leggere | letto | avere | to read → read |
| mettere | messo | avere | to put → put |
| prendere | preso | avere | to take → taken |
| aprire | aperto | avere | to open → opened |
| chiudere | chiuso | avere | to close → closed |
| chiedere | chiesto | avere | to ask → asked |
| risolvere | risolto | avere | to solve → solved |
| venire | venuto | essere | to come → come |
| nascere | nato | essere | to be born → born |
| morire | morto | essere | to die → died |
| rimanere | rimasto | essere | to stay, to remain → stayed, remained |
| succedere | successo | essere | to happen → happened |
| piacere | piaciuto | essere | to be pleasing → liked |
| scendere | sceso | essere * | to go down → gone down |
| vivere | vissuto | avere / essere | to live → lived |
| correre | corso | avere * | to run → run |
| bere | bevuto | avere | to drink → drunk |
| ridere | riso | avere | to laugh → laughed |
| spendere | speso | avere | to spend → spent |
| perdere | perso | avere | to lose → lost |
| decidere | deciso | avere | to decide → decided |
| offrire | offerto | avere | to offer → offered |
| conoscere | conosciuto | avere | to know, to meet → known, met |
| piangere | pianto | avere | to cry → cried |
| nascondere | nascosto | avere | to hide → hidden |
| rispondere | risposto | avere | to answer → answered |
| tradurre | tradotto | avere | to translate → translated |
| accendere | acceso | avere | to turn on → turned on |
| spegnere | spento | avere | to turn off → turned off |
| rompere | rotto | avere | to break → broken |
| scegliere | scelto | avere | to choose → chosen |
| vincere | vinto | avere | to win → won |
| discutere | discusso | avere | to discuss → discussed |
| promettere | promesso | avere | to promise → promised |
| convincere | convinto | avere | to convince → convinced |
* Scendere takes avere when it has a direct object (ho sceso le scale), and correre takes essere when you say where you ran to (sono corso a casa). Vivere works with both: ho vissuto and sono vissuto a Roma are both correct.
Note: avere → avuto is regular (-ere → -uto), so you won’t find it in the list.
Learn them in groups
Here is the trick I use with my students: instead of memorizing a long list, group the participles by their ending. Once you notice the pattern, they stick much faster.
| Ending | Past participles |
|---|---|
| -tto | fatto, detto, scritto, letto, rotto, tradotto |
| -so | preso, chiuso, riso, sceso, speso, perso, deciso, acceso |
| -sso | messo, discusso, promesso, successo |
| -sto | visto, chiesto, rimasto, risposto, nascosto |
| -rto | aperto, offerto, morto |
| -nto | pianto, spento, vinto, convinto |
| -lto | scelto, risolto |
| -uto (irregular stem) | venuto, vissuto, conosciuto, piaciuto, bevuto |
| others | stato, nato, corso |
Irregular participles in real sentences
- Che cosa hai fatto ieri sera? → What did you do last night?
- Non ho detto niente! → I didn’t say anything!
- Hai visto il nuovo film di Sorrentino? → Have you seen the new Sorrentino film?
- Mia nonna è nata a Palermo. → My grandmother was born in Palermo.
- Siamo rimasti a casa tutto il giorno. → We stayed at home all day.
- Che cosa è successo? → What happened?
Teacher’s tip
Don’t try to memorize all the irregular verbs at once. Start with the most common ones, the ones you’ll use every day (fatto, detto, visto, preso, messo, stato), then add one group at a time. And above all, meet them in context: reading is the easiest way to make them automatic.
Read the past tense in my stories
Stories are full of irregular participles: characters have fatto something, detto something, visto something. Reading them again and again in context is how they become natural. If you’re working on the passato prossimo, these graded readers are a good fit:
