Stellar evolution before the ZAMS

Young stars on their way to the ZAMS evolve in significantly different ways depending on their mass. While the theoretical and observational properties of lowand intermediate-mass stars are rather well understood and/or empirically tested, the situation for massive stars (> ∼ 10– 15 M⊙) is, to say the least, still elusive. On theoretical grounds, the PMS evolution of these objects should be extremely short, or nonexistent at all. Observationally, despite a great deal of effort, the simple (or bold) predictions of simplified models of massive star formation/evolution have proved more difficult to be checked. After a brief review of the theoretical expectations, I will highlight some critical test on young stars of various masses.