The passato prossimo
The passato prossimo is the most common past tense in Italian. It describes completed actions in the recent past (like "I worked" or "we have eaten"). It is built with a helping verb (usually avere) and a past participle.
Here is a quick review of the present tense of avere (to have):
| Subject | Form of avere |
|---|
| io | ho |
| tu | hai |
| lui / lei | ha |
| noi | abbiamo |
| voi | avete |
| loro | hanno |
To form a regular past participle, drop the infinitive ending (-are, -ere, or -ire) and add a new ending:
- -are verbs take -ato (lavorare → lavorato)
- -ere verbs take -uto (ricevere → ricevuto)
- -ire verbs take -ito (dormire → dormito)
When a verb uses avere as its helper, the past participle always ends in -o regardless of the subject.
You will often use this tense with time markers like ieri (yesterday) and stamattina (this morning):
Expressing "last" or "previous"
To say "last week" or "last month", use the adjective scorso. Like all adjectives, it must agree with the noun it describes (masculine il mese scorso, feminine la settimana scorsa).
Making it negative
To make a sentence negative, place non right before the helping verb.
Using adverbs: già, appena, and mai
Words like già (already), appena (just), and mai (ever/never) usually go right between the helping verb and the past participle.
To say that you have "never" done something, use a double negative: put non before the helping verb and mai before the past participle.
