In Italian, verbs of beginning, ending, and changing—like cominciare, iniziare, finire, and cambiare—have a special quirk. When you use them in compound tenses, the auxiliary verb you choose depends on how the verb is used in the sentence.
Using "avere" with a direct object
If the verb has a direct object—meaning someone starts, finishes, or changes something—you use avere as the auxiliary verb.
As usual with avere, the past participle simply ends in -o.
| We have begun the operational phase. | Abbiamo cominciato la fase operativa. |
Using "essere" without a direct object
If the verb does not have a direct object—meaning something starts, finishes, or changes on its own—you use essere as the auxiliary verb.
Because you are using essere, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Notice how cominciato changes to cominciata to match la fase:
| The operational phase has already begun. | La fase operativa è già cominciata. |
Applying the rule to changes and time
This rule applies perfectly when discussing projects, where methods might change or time might pass. Let's look at cambiare (to change). When someone changes a method (direct object), use avere:
| They have changed the method and the approach. | Hanno cambiato il metodo e l'approccio. |
But when the method changes on its own (no direct object), use essere:
| The management method has changed a lot. | Il metodo di gestione è cambiato molto. |
The verb passare follows the exact same pattern. Use avere when you "spend" a period of time, and essere when time simply "passes":
| We went through a difficult period with the new management. | Abbiamo passato un periodo difficile con la nuova gestione. |
| This difficult period has already passed. | Questo periodo difficile è già passato. |
Starting and finishing
Finally, we see this same pattern with iniziare (to start) and finire (to finish). This rule holds true across all compound tenses, not just the passato prossimo.
| Will they have already finished the assignment? | Avranno già finito l'incarico? |
| The assignment is finally finished. | L'incarico è finalmente finito. |
