Learn Italian: Non ha mai guardato questo film. - She has never watched this movie.

In the passato prossimo (the Italian past tense), short adverbs like mai (never), sempre (always), and già (already) are usually placed right between the helping verb (ha) and the past participle (guardato).

The sentence uses both non and mai. Does Italian use double negatives?

Yes! To say 'never' in Italian, you must use a double negative. The word non goes before the helping verb (ha), and mai goes after it. Literally, the sentence is structured as 'She hasn't never watched', which is perfectly correct grammar in Italian.

Since the translation says 'She', shouldn't the past participle be guardata instead of guardato?

No, it stays guardato. When you form the past tense using the helping verb avere (like ha in this sentence), the past participle ending doesn't change to match the subject. It keeps its standard -o ending, whether the subject is masculine, feminine, or plural.

The translation says 'She', but there is no word for 'she' in the Italian sentence. How do we know who is watching?