Manner of Motion: Activity vs. Destination
In Italian, verbs that describe a manner of motion—such as correre (to run), saltare (to jump), and volare (to fly)—have a special rule for compound tenses. They can take either avere or essere as their auxiliary verb, depending on the context.
When the focus is on the pure physical activity itself, its duration, or how it was performed, use avere.
However, when the movement is directed toward a specific destination—such as rushing to the hospital during an emergency or heading to a specific spot—these verbs take essere. The action is no longer just a physical activity, but a change of location.
As always when using essere, remember that the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number.
Transitive Motion
Keep in mind that if a motion verb takes a direct object (meaning someone is running or jumping over something specific), it acts as a transitive verb and must always use avere.
Often, you will see both rules in action within the same sentence. If a subject jumps over an obstacle (transitive) and then runs to a destination (directed motion), the auxiliary shifts accordingly from avere to essere.