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### The Trapassato Prossimo (Pluperfect)

When telling a story in the past, you often need to refer to an event that happened even *earlier*. In English, we use the pluperfect tense (e.g., "I **had finished** my work before she arrived"). In Italian, this is called the **trapassato prossimo**.

Form it by combining the imperfect tense (*l'imperfetto*) of **avere** or **essere** with the past participle of the main verb.

| Subject | Avere (Imperfect) | Essere (Imperfect) |
|---|---|---|
| io | avevo | ero |
| tu | avevi | eri |
| lui / lei | aveva | era |
| noi | avevamo | eravamo |
| voi | avevate | eravate |
| loro | avevano | erano |

### Setting up the Shot (Using Avere)

Most verbs take **avere** as their auxiliary. The *trapassato prossimo* is perfect for describing preparations made before taking a photograph.

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The pluperfect establishes a clear sequence of events in the past:

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### Reflexive Verbs and Agreement (Using Essere)

Verbs of movement, states of being, and all reflexive verbs take **essere** as their auxiliary, just like in the *passato prossimo*. When using *essere*, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject (ending in *-o*, *-a*, *-i*, or *-e*).

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### Explaining Past Outcomes

Use the *trapassato prossimo* to explain *why* something else happened in the past. A sharp (*nitido*) or blurry (*sfocato*) portrait is often the result of what the photographer had (or hadn't) done moments before.

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The pluperfect tense (avevo fatto)

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)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

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

Question	Answer
the camera	la fotocamera
the tripod	il treppiede
I had left the camera on the tripod.	Avevo lasciato la fotocamera sul treppiede.
Since I had prepared the camera, I was ready.	Siccome avevo preparato la fotocamera, ero pronto.
I didn't use the tripod because I hadn't set it up.	Non ho usato il treppiede perché non l'avevo montato.
to adjust	regolare
the flash	il flash
I had adjusted the flash before the party.	Avevo regolato il flash prima della festa.
to shoot (a photo)	scattare
After adjusting the light, she took the photo.	Dopo aver regolato la luce, ha scattato la foto.
the subject	il soggetto
blurry	sfocato
I had taken the photo, but the subject was blurry.	Avevo scattato la foto, ma il soggetto era sfocato.
The subject had turned around suddenly.	Il soggetto si era voltato improvvisamente.
to frame (a shot)	inquadrare
sharp / clear	nitido
I had framed the landscape and everything was sharp.	Avevo inquadrato il paesaggio e tutto era nitido.
to press	premere
I'm framing the subject, don't press the button!	Sto inquadrando il soggetto, non premere il pulsante!
I hadn't pressed the button properly, so the flash didn't work.	Non avevo premuto bene il pulsante, perciò il flash non ha funzionato.
Since the portrait was blurry, I hadn't printed it.	Siccome il ritratto era sfocato, non l'avevo stampato.
The portrait was sharp because I had used the tripod.	Il ritratto era nitido perché avevo usato il treppiede.