forms is the one between the imperfetto (habitual past tense) and the passato remoto (perfective past tense), although the latter is usually replaced in spoken language by the passato prossimo. Tenses Simple tenses Compound tenses Aspects other than the habitual and the imperfective, such as the perfective, the progressive and the prospective, are rendered in Italian by a series of periphrastic structures that may or may not be perceived as different tenses by different speakers. Note the difference between: Perfect aspect: io ho fatto (English: I have done) Progressive aspect: io sto facendo (English: I'm doing) Prospective aspect: io sto per fare (English: I'm about to do) Impersonal forms Notes Compound tense auxiliary verbs In Italian, compound tenses expressing perfect aspect are formed with either auxiliary verb avere ("to have") for transitive verbs and some intransitive verbs and with essere ("to be") for the remaining intransitive verbs, plus the past participle. Progressive aspect is rendered by verb stare plus the gerund. The prospective aspect is formed with stare plus the preposition per and the infinitive. The passive voice of transitive verbs is formed with essere in the perfective and prospective aspects, with venire in the progressive or habitual aspect, and with either essere or venire in the perfective aspects: Il cancello è stato appena aperto. ("The gate has just been opened.") Il cancello sta per essere aperto ("The gate is about to be opened") Il cancello sta venendo aperto in questo momento. ("The gate is being opened right now.") Il cancello viene aperto ogni giorno. ("The gate is opened every day.") Il cancello fu/venne aperto in fretta. ("The gate was quickly opened.") For the perfect tenses of intransitive verbs a reliable rule cannot be given, although a useful rule of thumb is that if a verb's past participle can take on adjectival value, essere is used, otherwise avere. Also, reflexive verbs and unaccusative verbs use essere (typically non-agentive verbs of motion and change of state, i.e. involuntary actions like cadere ("to fall") or morire ("to die")). The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is essential to the agreement of the past participle. Some verbs, like vivere ("to live"), may use both: Io ho vissuto ("I have lived") can alternatively be expressed as, Io sono vissuto. Past participle The past participle is used in Italian as both an adjective and