Learn Italian simple past, listening to Mina singing “La canzone di Marinella” (Marinella’s song), written by the singer song-writer Fabrizio De Andrè:
La canzone di Marinella (Marinella’s Song)
Questa di Marinella è la storia vera
This is the true story of Marinella,
che scivolò; nel fiume a primavera,
who slipped into the river in spring,
ma il vento che la vide così bella
but the wind that saw her so beautiful,
dal fiume la portò sopra a una stella.
from the river carried her on a star.
Alone without sorrowful memories,
vivevi senza il sogno di un amore,
you lived without the dream of love,
ma un re senza corona e senza scorta,
but a king, without crown and without escort,
bussò tre volte un giorno alla sua porta.
once knocked three times at your door.
White as moon is his hat,
come l’amore rosso il suo mantello,
like the love his cloak is red,
tu lo seguisti senza una ragione,
you followed him without a reason,
come un ragazzo segue un aquilone.
like a child follows a kite.
And there was the sun and you had beautiful eyes
lui ti baciò le labbra ed i capelli,
he kissed your lips and your hair,
c’era la luna e avevi gli occhi stanchi,
there was the moon and you had tired eyes,
lui pose la mano sui tuoi fianchi.
he laid his hands on your hips.
And there were kisses and there were smiles,
poi furono soltanto i fiordalisi
then there were only the cornflowers,
che videro con gli occhi delle stelle
which saw with the eyes of the stars
fremere al vento e ai baci la tua pelle.
your skin quivering with the wind and the kisses.Dicono poi che, mentre ritornavi,
Finally, they tell that, while you were coming back,
nel fiume chissà come scivolavi
into the river, who knows how you slipped
e lui, che non ti volle creder morta,
and he, who didn’t want to believe you were dead,
bussò cent’anni ancora alla tua porta.
knocked one hundred more years at your door.
This is your song, Marinella,
che sei volata in cielo su una stella
who flew in the sky on a star,
e, come tutte le più belle cose,
and, like all the most beautiful things,
vivesti solo un giorno, come le rose
you lived just one day, like the roses…
E, come tutte le più belle cose,
and, like all the most beautiful things,
vivesti solo un giorno, come le rose
you lived just one day, like the roses…
The Simple Past Tense in the Song
The “passato remoto” (meaning “remote past”) expresses an action that happened quite a long time ago ad now is over. It can be translated to English with the simple past tense, as in the song:
Lei scivolò; nel fiume: she slipped into the river.
Il vento che la vide così bella: the wind that saw her so beautiful
Tu lo seguisti senza una ragione: you followed him without a reason
Here are the conjugations of the Italian simple past of these 3 verbs:
| First Conj. | Second Conj. | Third Conj. | |
| Person | scivol-are (to slip) | ved-ere (to see) | segu-ire (to follow) |
| io (I) | scivolai | vidi | seguii |
| tu (you) | scivolasti | vedesti | seguisti |
| lui, egli (he) | scivolò | vide | seguì |
| lei, ella (she) | scivolò | vide | seguì |
| esso (it) | scivolò | vide | seguì |
| noi (we) | scivolammo | vedemmo | seguimmo |
| voi (you) | scivolaste | vedeste | seguiste |
| loro, essi (they) | scivolarono | videro | seguirono |
As you can see the 1st conjugation of the Italian simple past even if it is not very easy, is definitely less difficult than the second one: you have to add the following desinences to the verb root:
-ai -asti, -ò, -ammo, -aste, -arono
So, for example, with a different verb root, as with the verb “bussare” (to knock) in the song:
bussò tre volte un giorno alla sua porta.
once knocked three times at your door.
We will have the following conjugation:
| io buss-ai | tu buss-asti | lei/lui buss-ò |
| noi buss-ammo | voi buss-aste | loro buss-arono |
Here’s the simple past of the verb “baciare” (to kiss):
Lui ti baciò le labbra ed i capelli: he kissed your lips and your hair
| io baci-ai | tu baci-asti | lei/lui baci-ò |
| noi baci-ammo | voi baci-aste | loro baci-arono |
Lui pose la mano sui tuoi fianchi: he laid his hands on your hips.
The Italian Simple Past Vs. the Imperfect Tense
The Italian simple past tense almost acts in opposition to imperfect tense, which is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly or over an extended period of time:
Vivevi senza il sogno di un amore: you lived without the dream of a love
Mentre ritornavi: while you were coming back,
Here’s a table showing the italian simple past for the verbs that ends with -are, -ere, -ire.
The Italian Simple Past – the 3 Conjugations
| First Conj. | Second Conj. | Third Conj. | |
| Person | am-are (to love) |
cred-ere to believe |
dorm-ire (to sleep) |
| io (I) | amai | credetti | dormii |
| tu (you) | amasti | credesti | dormisti |
| lui, egli (he) | amò | credette | dormì |
| lei, ella (she) | amò | credette | dormì |
| esso (it) | amò | credette | dormì |
| noi (we) | amammo | credemmo | dormimmo |
| voi (you) | amaste | credeste | dormiste |
| loro, essi (they) | amarono | credettero | dormirono |
