Index / Language / Records / Italian / Grammar
Whether the past participle changes its ending, and with what. Narrow, exceptionless, and directly examinable.
The control text · argumentative
Vietare il cellulare in classe sembra una misura drastica, ma i dati suggeriscono che funzioni. Nelle scuole che hanno introdotto il divieto, gli insegnanti segnalano meno interruzioni e un calo dei casi di cyberbullismo. È vero che lo strumento serve anche allo studio, e sarebbe ingenuo negarlo. Resta il fatto che il costo della distrazione ricade su chi ha meno sostegno a casa. Finché non ci saranno prove che l'uso libero migliori l'apprendimento, l'onere della prova spetta a chi difende il permesso.
Where the two part
Standard · the base
With essere it agrees with the subject. With avere it agrees only with a preceding direct-object clitic, and is otherwise invariable.
Regional · the contrast
The clitic agreement is variably applied in speech. In writing it is expected, and its absence is one of the quieter markers of a non-native text.
10 options
L'abbonamento è stato chiuso. · Le ricevute sono arrivate.
The tellessere plus a participle that changes its ending to match the subject.
Anchor A contains one. Identical in principle to Spanish and Portuguese passives, so it transfers.
It requires the auxiliary choice on GRM-02 to be right first.
Ho disdetto il servizio. · Ho conservato le ricevute.
The tellNo agreement at all, whatever the object's gender or number.
Anchor A contains this too. The default, and it means most participles simply do not change.
Its very regularity makes the clitic exception below easy to forget.
Ho visto la ricevuta → L'ho vista. · Ho visto le ricevute → Le ho viste.
The tellA direct-object clitic in front pulls agreement onto the participle. Nothing else with avere does.
The single highest-value rule on this sheet: narrow, absolute, and an examiner will notice it either way.
Only direct object clitics trigger it, so le ho parlato stays invariable and looks identical on the page.
Ne ho conservate due. — the participle agrees with what ne stands for
The tellAgreement with a quantity that is not written in the sentence.
Follows the same logic as the clitic rule, so learning one covers both.
The thing being agreed with is invisible, which makes the rule feel arbitrary until it clicks.
Mi sono accorto dell'addebito. · Maria si è accorta.
The tellReflexive means essere, which means agreement with the subject.
Absolute, and it follows from GRM-02 rather than being a separate fact.
With a reflexive that has its own direct object the picture changes, and that is where it gets genuinely difficult.
Si è andati in banca. · Si è stati fortunati.
The tellMasculine plural after a singular si.
A rule with no exceptions, frequent in formal writing, and it looks wrong until you know it is right.
It is counter-intuitive enough that learners correct it back to the singular.
Standard Si vendono case. — passive, agrees
Regional Si dice che… — impersonal, singular
The tellWhether the verb agrees with the thing being sold tells you which si you are looking at.
The clearest way to separate the two si constructions, which otherwise look identical.
Both appear constantly and the distinction is invisible until you test the agreement.
Standard Sono dovuto andare.
Regional Ho dovuto andare.
The tellWhether the modal borrowed essere from its infinitive, and whether the participle then agrees.
Honest complexity: both forms are in print, so this is a genuinely open question rather than a rule.
Because both are defensible, it is a poor place to be assertive in either direction.
L'ho visto for a feminine object — grammatical-looking and wrong
The tellAn invariable participle where a preceding clitic required agreement.
On the sheet because it is the most common quiet error in advanced writing: nothing sounds wrong.
It is marked in both exam lanes, and it is the kind of error that survives years of fluency.
Ho conservate le ricevute — wrong: no preceding clitic, so no agreement
The tellAgreement with a following object.
Named because it is what happens immediately after the clitic rule is learned.
Wrong in every register, and it signals a rule half-applied rather than a slip.