The books we read are interesting

[addy]

Hi, How do you say in Italian? (The books we read are interesting.)
Thank you
Addy

 

[shaula]

(The books we read are interesting.)

I libri che leggiamo (present tense) sono interessanti

or

I libri che leggemmo (past tense) sono interessanti
I libri che abbiamo letto (colloquial past tense) sono interessanti.


Ciao
shaula

 

[walnut]

Hi Addy and welcome to the WR Forums.

I modified your thread's title to let other members rapidly identify the topic.

Ciao! Walnut

 

[Silvia]

I libri che abbiamo letto (colloquial past tense) sono interessanti.

That's the phrase I would have used.

 

[BklynGiovanna]

I libri che leggiamo (present tense) sono interessanti

or

I libri che leggemmo (past tense) sono interessanti
I libri che abbiamo letto (colloquial past tense) sono interessanti.


Ciao
shaula

Ciao tutti!

Can someone refresh my memory as to when it would be advised to use the past tense and when the colloquial past tense. When I'm in doubt I usually use the colloquial because I feel I can't be wrong.

Does "leggemo" mean "we were reading"?
How about "abbiamo letto"? That means we just read the books one time??

Help!

 

[EricB]

I'm not sure if this what you're looking for, BklynGiovanna, but here's the way it's usually taught in Italian courses:

"Leggemmo" is the passato remoto; it's generally used for events that happened a long time ago.

"Abbiamo letto" is the passato prossimo, which is used for events that happened more recently, and that were definitely completed in the past. (There's an example coming up.)

You might have also been thinking of "leggevamo", which is the imperfetto. It's used for events in the past which are (or were) ongoing, and also for states of mind, as well as a few other cases. The English equivalent is usually something like "we were reading."

So "We were reading when John woke up" would be "Leggevamo [imperfetto, because it was an ongoing activity] quando John si è svegliato [passato prossimo, because it's a clearly defined event that happened and was completed]."

Obviously, this is a very basic rundown, but does that help?

 

[shaula]

Everything you wrote, EricB, is correct. But we do not talk like grammar books

People living in the North (like me) would always use passato prossimo:

Stamattina ho letto il giornale (=as in grammar book)
L'anno scorso ho letto il suo libro

I have never used a passato remoto while talking. On the other hand I may have used it in school or writing a story.

Ciao
shaula

 

[EricB]

Grazie, shaula.

 

[BklynGiovanna]

Thank you to both. I like to learn all the ways eric, but now thanks to shaula I know if I get confused and don't want to say the wrong thing I won't be considered wrong if I use passato prossimo.

Grazie un' altra volta!

 

[EricB]

I may be mistaken, but I think shaula was saying specifically that the passato remoto is not commonly used in spoken Italian, in Northern Italy. The passato prossimo is used instead. (This is generally not the case in the South, and in Sicily.)

The imperfetto, however, is used in spoken Italian throughout the country.

 

[BklynGiovanna]

Okay. I got it. Thanks a lot for clearing that up.

 

[shaula]

I may be mistaken, but I think shaula was saying specifically that the passato remoto is not commonly used in spoken Italian, in Northern Italy. The passato prossimo is used instead. (This is generally not the case in the South, and in Sicily.)

Exactly, Eric

The imperfetto, however, is used in spoken Italian throughout the country.

The imperfetto has a totally different idea than passato prossimo and remoto, so there is no way you can get it wrong (once you lnow how to use it, of course ).

Ciao
shaula

 

[Silvia]

the passato remoto is not commonly used in spoken Italian, in Northern Italy. The passato prossimo is used instead. (This is generally not the case in the South, and in Sicily.)

Just to make it clearer, in the South they are wrong, too, in fact they overuse the passato remoto, this is even more evident when they speak in a dialect.