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Ho parlato prima con mio padre.

Ho parlato prima con mio padre.
I spoke earlier with my father.
From Lesson 72:Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Ho parlato prima con mio padre.

Why does prima mean earlier here, and where does its placement differ from other adverbs?
Prima is an adverb of time that usually means before or earlier. Unlike adverbs of frequency like sempre (always) or già (already) which often tuck in between the helper verb and the past participle (like ho già parlato), prima typically goes after the entire verb phrase (ho parlato prima).
Could I put prima at the very end of the sentence instead?
Yes! You could also say Ho parlato con mio padre prima. Adverbs of time like prima are quite flexible and can go immediately after the verb or at the very end of the sentence to change the flow and emphasis slightly.
Ho parlato translates word-for-word to I have spoken. Why does the English translation say I spoke?
In Italian, the passato prossimo (the tense made of a helper verb plus a past participle) is the most common way to talk about the completed past. While it translates literally as I have spoken, it is almost always the right choice when expressing the simple English past tense, like I spoke.
Why is it mio padre and not il mio padre?
In Italian, you usually put a definite article (like il or la) before possessive words, like il mio gatto (my cat). However, there is a strict exception for family members: when talking about a singular, close family member like padre (father) or madre (mother), you must drop the article.

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