Compound Gerund & Past Infinitive

To say that one action happened before another, Italian uses the auxiliary plus the past participle, choosing avere or essere as in the passato prossimo.

• Dopo + past infinitive: dopo aver mangiato (after eating), dopo essere arrivata (after arriving). Avere and essere often drop the final -e: aver, esser.
• Compound gerund: avendo finito (having finished), essendo partiti (having left). It often gives a reason too.

With essere the participle agrees with the subject (le ragazze, dopo essere tornate), and reflexive verbs add the pronoun: dopo essersi alzata.

The participle alone can replace the compound gerund: Finito il lavoro, Marco è tornato a casa. It agrees with the object (Letta la lettera) or, with essere verbs, with the subject (Arrivata a casa). Verbs like dormire or lavorare have no such short form.