Learn Italian: Ho appena finito il lavoro. - I have just finished the work.

In Italian, certain short adverbs of time like appena (just), già (already), and ancora (yet) are usually placed right between the helping verb (ho) and the past participle (finito).

How is the past participle finito formed?

To make the past participle for regular -ire verbs like finire (to finish), you drop the -ire ending and add -ito. This makes finito.

Why isn't there a word for 'I' in this sentence?

Italian often drops subject pronouns like io (I) because the verb already tells us who is doing the action. The helping verb ho (I have) can only be used for the 'I' form.

I usually say 'I finished work' in English. Why does Italian use il (the) here?

In Italian, you generally need to use definite articles like il before nouns, even in everyday phrases where English might leave them out. So, you say il lavoro (the work) instead of just lavoro.