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### The helping verb essere

In the *passato prossimo*, most verbs use **avere** as the helping verb. However, a specific group of verbs uses **essere** (to be) instead. These are usually verbs that describe motion (going, arriving, leaving) or a state of being (staying, becoming, happening).

### Matching the subject

When you use **essere** as the helping verb, there is a crucial rule you must follow: **the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number**.

Just like an adjective, the ending of the past participle changes depending on who or what the subject is:

- **-o** for masculine singular (lui è andat**o**)
- **-a** for feminine singular (lei è andat**a**)
- **-i** for masculine plural (loro sono andat**i**)
- **-e** for feminine plural (loro sono andat**e**)

Notice how the ending of **andare** (to go) changes depending on whether Marco or Anna is doing the action:

{{item:806206}}

{{item:806208}}

If the subject is plural, the participle ending becomes plural. If a group is mixed male and female, you default to the masculine plural **-i**.

{{item:806212}}

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### Verbs of motion

Many of the most common verbs that take **essere** involve moving from one place to another. Along with **andare** and **tornare** (to return), this includes **arrivare** (to arrive), **entrare** (to enter), **partire** (to leave), and **scappare** (to escape).

{{item:806209}}

{{item:806214}}

{{item:806230}}

### States and changes of state

Verbs that describe staying in one place, or a change in condition, also take **essere**. Important verbs in this category include **restare** (to stay), **diventare** (to become), **cadere** (to fall), and **succedere** (to happen).

{{item:806210}}

{{item:806220}}

{{item:806223}}

{{item:806227}}

### Bringing it together

Remember to always check both the helping verb and the ending of the past participle.

{{item:806233}}

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Past tense of modal verbs

Question	Answer
the gym	la palestra
Marco went to the gym this morning.	Marco è andato in palestra stamattina.
the library	la biblioteca
Anna went to the library yesterday.	Anna è andata in biblioteca ieri.
He arrived at the gym early.	È arrivato in palestra presto.
She stayed in the library.	È restata in biblioteca.
the swimming pool	la piscina
We went to the pool.	Siamo andati in piscina.
My sister entered the bank.	Mia sorella è entrata in banca.
My brother left for Paris.	Mio fratello è partito per Parigi.
the trip (short outing, excursion)	la gita
the lake	il lago
We went on a trip to the lake.	Siamo andati in gita al lago.
My sisters returned from the trip.	Le mie sorelle sono tornate dalla gita.
to become	diventare
My cousin became rich.	Mio cugino è diventato ricco.
The work became difficult.	Il lavoro è diventato difficile.
to fall	cadere
The book fell on the floor.	Il libro è caduto sul pavimento.
The keys fell from the table.	Le chiavi sono cadute dal tavolo.
to happen	succedere
the accident	l'incidente
An accident happened yesterday.	Ieri è successo un incidente.
What happened in the library?	Che cosa è successo in biblioteca?
to escape	scappare
The dog ran away.	Il cane è scappato.
The cats ran away from the garden.	I gatti sono scappati dal giardino.
The accident happened on the bridge.	L'incidente è successo sul ponte.
Marco went to the lake and Maria went to the pool.	Marco è andato al lago e Maria è andata in piscina.
to remain, to stay behind	rimanere
Yesterday I stayed at home.	Ieri sono rimasto a casa.
We stayed in the city.	Siamo rimasti in città.