Riferì

Riferì is the third-person singular passato remoto form of the Italian verb riferire, meaning to report or to relate. In standard Italian, this tense is primarily used in formal, literary, or historical writing; in everyday speech the passato prossimo with avere is far more common (ha riferito). Riferire belongs to the regular -ire verbs in Italian, and its passato remoto paradigm for the main forms is: io riferii, tu riferisti, lui riferì, noi riferimmo, voi riferiste, loro riferirono.

The verb derives from Latin referre, meaning to bring back or to report, with the modern sense carried by the prefix re- plus the root ferre. The accent on the final syllable in riferì helps indicate the correct pronunciation and distinguishes it from related forms.

Usage notes and examples: in narrative prose, one might encounter phrases such as “Egli riferì i fatti al consiglio” or “Lo storico riferì che le prove erano inconcludenti.” Because passato remoto can sound archaic or stylistically marked, many Italian speakers prefer forms like ha riferito or ha riferito i dettagli in contemporary contexts.

Related forms include the other person and number combinations (riferì, riferìrono, etc.) as part of the broader conjugation of riferire. The term is primarily of interest in discussions of Italian verb morphology, historical texts, and literary style.