Most of the time the past tense in Italian is formed by taking the verb "avere" + the past participle. There are however some cases where instead of using "avere" we must use essere + the past particple

Here is the conjugation of "essere"

sono = I am
sei = You are (singular)
è = He/she is
siamo = we are
siete = you are (plural)
sono = they are

We take one of the above forms (depending on which one we want to use) and then we add our past participle.

Just to be sure that you know how to form a past participle here is how:

To form a past partciple, start from the infinitve form of the verb. Infinitives end in either "are" "ere" or "ire"

If the infinitive ends in "are" then you cut off the "are" and add the letters "ato" parlare ---> parl ---> parlato = spoken

If the infinitive ends in "ere" then you cut off the "ere" and add the letters "uto" vedere ---> ved ---> veduto = seen

If the infinitive ends in "ire" then you cut off the "ire" and add the letters "ito" finire ---> fin ---> finito = finished

The above rules do not apply if the past participle is irregular. In that case you would use the past participles that you see in parentheses in the list of verbs below. Example: essere ---> stato

Here are the verbs that take "essere" instead of "avere" irregular past particples are in parenthesis.

to arrive arrivare
to go andare
to go out uscire
to enter entrare
to come venire (venuto)
to be essere (stato)
to leave partire
to stay, be stare (stato)
to disappear sparire
to come back tornare
to be born nascere (nato)
to die morire (morto)
to remain rimanere (rimasto)

So let's try some:

I stayed home

1. Go to the "I am" form of essere which is sono.
2. Find your past participle which is "rimasto"
3. put it together and what to you get?
4. Sono rimasto a casa = I stayed home.

OK simple right......it does get a little harder.

The spelling of the past participle changes depending on the number and gender of the subject.

so let's take the past particple "rimasto". If the subject is masculine singular, the past participle ends in "o" --- rimasto. If the subject is feminine singular the past particple ends in "a" ---rimasta. If the subject is masculine plural the past particple ends in "i" --- rimasti. If the subject is feminine plural the past participle ends in "e" --- rimaste

So.........

He stayed home = è rimasto a casa.

BUT

She stayed home = è rimasta a casa.

BUT

Laura e Jessica stayed home = Laura e Jessica sono rimaste a casa.

BUT

Jacob e Scott stayed home = Jacob e Scott sono rimasti a casa.

So as you can see, the spelling of the past participle changes depending on the subject. This does not occur with verbs conjugated with "avere"

Now you try:

Michael (He) went to school =

Janet (She) went to school =

Michael e Paolo (They) went to school. =

Janet e Beth (They) went to school. =

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