Which one should you use?
While passato is the general term, if you are specifically referring to the previous week, month or year, the word scorso is particularly useful. Additionally, if you mean 'in a direction that passes', the adverb davanti is used instead of passato. To refer to the past, you can use the phrase una volta, which literally means 'one time'.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
As a noun, passato is masculine. When used as an adjective to describe something that has already happened, it must agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies: use passata for feminine singular, passati for masculine plural and passate for feminine plural.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /pasˈsa.to/. It has 3 syllables, with the stress on the second syllable.
Did you know?
- In Italian, the term passato is used in a specific cooking technique to describe a puree that has been strained through a fine sieve.
- While passato refers to the past, the word scorso comes from a verb meaning 'to slide' or 'to glide'.
- While English speakers use 'the past' to describe history, Italians often use the phrase un tempo to evoke a sense of nostalgia for 'the old days'.
Examples in context
- Sono il tuo passato.I am your past.This sentence is useful for practicing the word passato in a personal context.Tatoeba #4403722 by Guybrush88, translation #4403721 by Evie
- Non vivo nel passato.I don't live in the past.This sentence shows how to use passato when discussing where one's focus lies.Tatoeba #7994213 by Guybrush88, translation #5745178 by CM
- È una cosa del passato.It's a thing of the past.This sentence illustrates a common idiomatic way to use passato to describe something that is no longer relevant.Tatoeba #3060338 by Guybrush88, translation #3059868 by LiliHanna
- la scorsa settimanaLast week
- Ho mangiatoI have eaten
- Una volta, ho visitato RomaOnce, I visited Rome
- 141 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Matteo and Giulia are talking about their old school friends.
- MatteoTi ricordi i nostri amici del passato?Do you remember our friends from the past?
- GiuliaSì, ma è un passato lontano.Yes, but it is a distant past.
- MatteoVorrei rivederli dopo tutto questo passato.I would like to see them again after all this past.
- GiuliaHai ragione, Matteo, cerchiamoli.You are right, Matteo, let's look for them.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “past” translations and entries passato, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
