Introduction

Bere means “to drink”, and this page covers exactly one thing: bere in the passato prossimo. The passato prossimo is the tense Italian speakers reach for when they talk about one finished action in the past, especially in conversation. On this page you will find the full passato prossimo table for bere, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about bere in the passato prossimo. It means to drink, and it is irregular in almost every tense, with the stem bev- in the present and the infinitive shortened to bere. Its forms are worth learning whole, starting with the present and the passato prossimo. For example: “Lui ha bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “He has drunk a coffee.” Everything on this page uses the forms of bere exactly as they are conjugated in the passato prossimo, so you can trust every form you see here.

Bere in the Passato prossimo — full table

Person Form
io ho bevuto
tu hai bevuto
lui/lei ha bevuto
noi abbiamo bevuto
voi avete bevuto
loro hanno bevuto
Gerund: bevendo · Past participle: bevuto
The gerund is bevendo, which you use with stare to say what is happening at the same time as the main action: “Bevendo un caffè, imparo molto.” — “While drinking a coffee, I learn a lot.” The past participle is bevuto, which you use with avere in the perfect tenses: ho bevuto is the passato prossimo, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passato prossimo is only one part of how bere is used.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for bere, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

How the passato prossimo of bere is formed

The passato prossimo of bere is formed with the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle bevuto: io ho bevuto, tu hai bevuto, lui ha bevuto, noi abbiamo bevuto, voi avete bevuto, loro hanno bevuto. The participle is given here in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Two things about the passato prossimo of bere are worth noticing. First, the auxiliary is the whole decision: once you know that bere takes avere, the rest is the present of avere plus one participle, and the same participle serves all four perfect tenses. Second, the passato prossimo is the tense of finished events with a clear result, so it pairs naturally with time words such as ieri, questa settimana and l'anno scorso — those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

Because the participle bevuto never changes in the tables, the passato prossimo of bere is cheap to learn once the auxiliary is fixed. Learn the six auxiliary forms, add the participle, and the whole tense is yours.

When to use the passato prossimo of bere

The passato prossimo is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use bere in the passato prossimo most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. One finished action

The passato prossimo describes a single action that is finished, especially in spoken Italian. When the action has a clear end, the passato prossimo is the natural choice. Example: “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “I have drunk a coffee.”

2. Recent events

Use the passato prossimo for things that happened recently — today, this week, this morning — where the result is still visible in the present. Example: “Lui ha bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “He has drunk a coffee.”

3. A sequence of events

When you tell what happened first, second and third, each step takes the passato prossimo. The tense moves the story forward one finished action at a time. Example: “Noi abbiamo bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “We have drunk a coffee.”

4. An experience in your life

Use the passato prossimo for things you have done in your life, with or without a time expression. It is the tense of experience as much as of yesterday. Example: “Tu hai bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “You have drunk a coffee.”

5. News and results

When you report news or a result, the passato prossimo carries it: something happened, and now the situation is different. The result matters more than the process. Example: “Loro hanno bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “They have drunk a coffee.”

Passato Prossimo vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passato prossimo is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the passato prossimo describes one finished action, while the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual action in the past, or the background of a scene. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passato prossimo sentences use words such as ieri or questa settimana, while the imperfect sentences use una volta or ogni giorno.

  • Passato Prossimo: “Lui ha bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “He has drunk a coffee”
  • Imperfect: “Lui beveva un caffè una volta.” — “He used to drink a coffee”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.
  • Passato Prossimo: “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “I have drunk a coffee”
  • Imperfect: “Io bevevo un caffè una volta.” — “I used to drink a coffee”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.
  • Passato Prossimo: “Tu hai bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “You have drunk a coffee”
  • Imperfect: “Tu bevevi un caffè una volta.” — “You used to drink a coffee”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.

Example sentences: bere in the passato prossimo

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions and the objects — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “I have drunk a coffee”
  2. “Tu hai bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “You have drunk a coffee”
  3. “Lui ha bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “He has drunk a coffee”
  4. “Noi abbiamo bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “We have drunk a coffee”
  5. “Voi avete bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “You have drunk a coffee”
  6. “Loro hanno bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “They have drunk a coffee”
  7. “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “I have drunk a coffee”
  8. “Lui ha bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” — “He has drunk a coffee”

Common mistakes

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Io sono bevuto un caffè.” Right: “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” Why: bere takes avere in the passato prossimo, not the other auxiliary. The io form is ho bevuto — check the auxiliary before you build the tense.
  • Wrong: “Io bevo un caffè ieri.” Right: “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” Why: Ieri points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho bevuto for a finished action yesterday.
  • Wrong: “Io ho bevendo un caffè.” Right: “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” Why: The passato prossimo needs the past participle bevuto, not the gerund bevendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary.
  • Wrong: “Io bere un caffè.” Right: “Io ho bevuto un caffè questa settimana.” Why: The infinitive bere never takes a subject and never forms a past tense on its own. After io you need the conjugated passato prossimo form ho bevuto.

Quiz: test yourself

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

  1. What is the io form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai bevuto
    • B) ho bevuto
    • C) ha bevuto
    • D) abbiamo bevuto

  2. What is the tu form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho bevuto
    • B) ha bevuto
    • C) hai bevuto
    • D) abbiamo bevuto

  3. What is the lui/lei form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho bevuto
    • B) hai bevuto
    • C) abbiamo bevuto
    • D) ha bevuto

  4. What is the noi form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) abbiamo bevuto
    • B) ho bevuto
    • C) hai bevuto
    • D) ha bevuto

  5. What is the voi form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho bevuto
    • B) avete bevuto
    • C) hai bevuto
    • D) ha bevuto

  6. What is the loro form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho bevuto
    • B) hai bevuto
    • C) hanno bevuto
    • D) ha bevuto

  7. What is the io form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai bevuto
    • B) ha bevuto
    • C) abbiamo bevuto
    • D) ho bevuto

  8. What is the tu form of bere in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai bevuto
    • B) ho bevuto
    • C) ha bevuto
    • D) abbiamo bevuto

Answer key

  1. B) ho bevuto — the correct form is ho bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) hai bevuto — the correct form is hai bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) ha bevuto — the correct form is ha bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) abbiamo bevuto — the correct form is abbiamo bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) avete bevuto — the correct form is avete bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) hanno bevuto — the correct form is hanno bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) ho bevuto — the correct form is ho bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) hai bevuto — the correct form is hai bevuto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does bere mean in English?

bere means “to drink”. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ere verb.

How is the passato prossimo of bere formed?

With the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle bevuto: io ho bevuto, tu hai bevuto, lui ha bevuto, noi abbiamo bevuto, voi avete bevuto, loro hanno bevuto.

When do I use the passato prossimo instead of the imperfect?

Use the passato prossimo for one finished action in the past. Use the imperfect for an ongoing or habitual past action, or for background description. The time words are your best clue: ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.

What are the gerund and past participle of bere?

The gerund is bevendo and the past participle is bevuto. The perfect tenses use avere + bevuto.

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