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Episode 08 - It Was a Dark and Stormy Verb - Meet the Passato Remoto

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🎧 Episode 08 – Introduction to Passato Remoto
Podcast: We Learn Italian Step by Step | Impariamo l’italiano piano piano

Ready for a taste of Italian literary drama? In this episode, we dip our toes into il passato remoto—the stylish past tense often found in books, fairy tales, and formal storytelling. But don’t worry, we’re keeping it simple: just the third person singular.

Together with Antonio, we explore how to recognize and understand this elegant one-word tense—no auxiliary verbs, no avere or essere in sight. You’ll hear side-by-side examples in passato prossimo and passato remoto, and learn to spot patterns in regular and irregular forms like:

  • versò, aprì, credĂ© (regular)
  • concesse, disse, bevve (irregular)
  • pianse, perse, venne (emotional and dramatic!)
  • fu, fece, ebbe, stette (the rebellious classics)

🎭 Expect mini-stories, western flair, moody train scenes, and lots of memorable verbs—presented one manageable step at a time.

đź“„ Missed the underlining activity?
Check your answers with the updated PDF from Chapter 1, where passato remoto verbs are clearly marked:
👉 Click here to download it

🎉 This episode wraps up Season 1, but Mariella’s story—and your Italian learning adventure—are far from over. Season 2 is just around the corner, with new verbs, new chapters, and even more mistero…

⏳ CHAPTERS
0:00 – Intro
2:54 – Passato Remoto story
5:24 – Use of auxiliary verbs
6:21 – Working hand in hand with the imperfetto
7:16 – Recognizing the passato remoto
8:03 – Focus on third person singular
8:38 – How the passato remoto is formed
12:17 – Irregular verbs in passato remoto
13:04 – -sse group of irregular verbs
17:02 – Verbs with double consonants
26:11 – Most common irregular verbs in passato prossimo
33:48 – Recap of all irregular verbs covered
35:39 – Wrap up 

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