Learn Italian: Non hanno ancora assaggiato il dolce. - They have not yet tasted the dessert.

In Italian, many common adverbs of time like ancora (yet), già (already), and mai (never) are placed directly between the helping verb (hanno) and the past participle (assaggiato). This is a set pattern you will see often, even though English usually puts 'yet' at the very end of the sentence.

Does ancora always mean 'yet'?

Not always! On its own, ancora usually means 'still' or 'again'. But when it is used in a negative sentence with non (like non... ancora in this sentence), it specifically means 'not yet'.

What verb does assaggiato come from?

It is the past participle of assaggiare, which means 'to taste' or 'to try' (when talking about food or drink). Because it is a regular -are verb, the ending changes to -ato in the past tense.

I learned that dolce means 'sweet'. Why does it mean 'dessert' here?

You are right! Dolce is an adjective that means 'sweet', but it is also very commonly used as a noun (il dolce) to mean 'the dessert', 'the pastry', or 'the cake'.