Learn Italian: Hai ricevuto la mia mail? - Did you receive my email?

In Italian, the past tense (passato prossimo) usually needs two words: a helper verb and a past participle. Here, the helper verb is hai (you have) and the past participle is ricevuto (received). Literally, it asks 'Have you received?'

How do we form the word ricevuto?

It comes from the verb ricevere (to receive). To form the past participle for regular verbs ending in -ere, you drop the -ere and add -uto.

Why is there a la before mia mail? Doesn't mia already mean 'my'?

Yes, mia means 'my', but in Italian, you almost always need to use a definite article (like il or la) before a possessive word. So you have to say la mia mail (literally 'the my email').

Is the English word mail feminine in Italian?

Yes! Even though foreign loanwords in Italian are usually masculine, mail (or e-mail) is feminine. This is likely because the Italian equivalents, la posta (the mail) or la lettera (the letter), are feminine. That is why we use the feminine words la and mia with it.