Italian C2: Literary past: the trapassato remoto · Grammar

In written narrative, an action finished just before another one in the passato remoto takes the trapassato remoto: passato remoto of avere or essere + participle. It only follows dopo che, appena, (non) appena, quando and finché non: Dopo che ebbe finito, uscì. Appena fu arrivata, telefonò. In speech, Italians use the trapassato prossimo instead (dopo che aveva finito).

• ebbi — I had (literary)
• fui — I was (literary)
• appena — as soon as
• dopo che — after
• non appena — no sooner
• il romanzo — novel
• il narratore — narrator
• il racconto — short story

• Dopo che ebbe letto la lettera, la bruciò. — After he had read the letter, he burnt it.
• Appena fu uscito, scoppiò il temporale. — As soon as he had gone out, the storm broke.
• Il narratore non dice chi sia l’assassino. — The narrator doesn’t say who the murderer is.
• Quando ebbero finito di cenare, uscirono in giardino. — When they had finished dinner, they went out into the garden.