To talk about what people generally did in the past, you can use the impersonal si with compound tenses, like the passato prossimo.
When forming compound tenses with the impersonal si, the auxiliary verb always shifts to essere, even if the main verb normally uses avere.
For example, lavorare (to work) and faticare (to toil) normally take avere. With the impersonal si, they switch to essere (si è lavorato).
| The artisan's craft was difficult, but people worked with love. | Il mestiere dell'artigiano era difficile, ma si è lavorato con amore. |
| In the past, people spun and toiled a lot. | In passato, si è filato e si è faticato molto. |
Agreement with objects
If the impersonal si is followed by an object, the past participle must agree with that object's gender and number.
With a masculine singular object, the participle ends in -o.
| In the workshop, people worked the leather with their hands. | Nella bottega, si è lavorato il cuoio con le mani. |
With a feminine singular object, the past participle ends in -a.
| People used straw to create the baskets. | Si è usata la paglia per creare i cesti. |
| People did not spin straw, but wool. | Non si è filata la paglia, ma la lana. |
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