Ieri abbiamo mangiato una pizza e ho preso un caffè.Yesterday we ate a pizza and I had a coffee.

The passato prossimo is the tense Italians use in everyday speech to talk about things that happened and are finished. It has two parts: the present tense of an auxiliary verb (here avere) and the past participle of the verb that tells you what happened: ho mangiato, hai parlato, abbiamo finito.

Quick shortcut: avere (ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno) + past participle. For regular verbs, the participle ends in -ato (-are verbs), -uto (-ere verbs) or -ito (-ire verbs).

The two parts

First, the present of avere (see The verb "avere"):

Subject avere Example
io ho Ho lavorato tutto il giorno. (I worked all day.)
tu hai Hai dormito bene? (Did you sleep well?)
lui / lei ha Anna ha chiamato. (Anna called.)
noi abbiamo Abbiamo comprato il pane. (We bought the bread.)
voi avete Avete capito? (Did you understand?)
loro hanno Hanno venduto la casa. (They sold the house.)

Then the past participle. For regular verbs, you drop the infinitive ending and add the participle ending:

Infinitive Participle Example
parl-are parlato Ho parlato con Luca. (I spoke with Luca.)
vend-ere venduto Ha venduto la macchina. (He sold the car.)
fin-ire finito Abbiamo finito il lavoro. (We finished the work.)

Verbs in -care and -gare need no spelling change in the participle: cercare → ho cercato, pagare → ho pagato.

What it means

The passato prossimo covers what English does with both the simple past and the present perfect. Ho mangiato can be "I ate" or "I have eaten", and context tells you which:

  • Ieri ho mangiato troppo. (Yesterday I ate too much.)
  • Ho già mangiato, grazie. (I've already eaten, thank you.)

The participle stays the same

With avere, the participle does not change for the subject's gender or number:

  • Marco ha parlato. (Marco spoke.)
  • Maria ha parlato. (Maria spoke.)
  • Marco e Maria hanno parlato. (Marco and Maria spoke.)

The one exception is a direct-object pronoun before the verb: with lo, la, li, le the participle agrees with it (Ho visto Anna → L’ho vista, I saw her). That comes later, in Agreement of the past participle with object pronouns.

Which verbs take avere?

Most verbs take avere, including nearly every verb that has a direct object (mangiare una mela, vedere un film, comprare il pane) and many verbs without one (dormire, lavorare, camminare, ridere). A smaller group, mostly verbs of movement and change, take essere instead (sono andato, è arrivata). See Passato prossimo with essere.

Negatives and questions

For a negative sentence, non goes before the auxiliary:

  • Non ho capito. (I didn't understand.)
  • Luca non ha telefonato. (Luca didn't call.)

Questions keep the same word order as the statement, with rising intonation for a yes/no question. A question word goes first:

  • Hai finito? (Have you finished?)
  • Che cosa hai mangiato? (What did you eat?)
  • Con chi hai parlato? (Who did you talk to?)

Small words between the two parts

Some short adverbs usually sit between the auxiliary and the participle: già (already), appena (just), ancora (yet), mai (ever, never) and sempre (always):

  • Ho già mangiato. (I've already eaten.)
  • Ha appena chiamato. (He has just called.)
  • Non ho ancora finito. (I haven't finished yet.)
  • Non ho mai provato il sushi. (I've never tried sushi.)
  • Hai mai viaggiato in treno? (Have you ever travelled by train?)

Time words that go with it

These expressions often appear with the passato prossimo:

  • ieri (yesterday), ieri sera (last night)
  • la settimana scorsa (last week), l'anno scorso (last year)
  • due giorni fa (two days ago)
  • stamattina (this morning), stasera (this evening)

Irregular participles

Many common verbs have an irregular participle, such as fare → fatto, dire → detto, prendere → preso. They are all conjugated with avere in the same way, and you will find them in Common irregular past participles.

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Ho mangiare la pizza. → ✅ Ho mangiato la pizza. (use the participle, not the infinitive)
  • ❌ Ho non capito. → ✅ Non ho capito. (non goes before ho)
  • ❌ Mario ha parlata. → ✅ Mario ha parlato. (the participle does not agree with the subject when the auxiliary is avere)
  • ❌ Ho andato al cinema. → ✅ Sono andato al cinema. (andare is a verb of movement and takes essere)
  • ❌ Ho già finisco. → ✅ Ho già finito. (the second part is always the participle)

Quick check

Complete the sentences with the passato prossimo.

  1. Ieri noi ____ (guardare) un bel film.
  2. Tu ____ (capire) la lezione?
  3. Loro ____ (vendere) la loro casa.
  4. Marco non ____ (finire) i compiti.
  5. Io ____ (ricevere) un messaggio da Anna.
  6. Voi ____ già ____ (mangiare)?
Show answers
  1. abbiamo guardato   2. hai capito   3. hanno venduto   4. ha finito   5. ho ricevuto   6. avete … mangiato

Key takeaways

  • The passato prossimo is formed from the present of an auxiliary plus a past participle: with most verbs, the auxiliary is avere (ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno).
  • Regular participles end in -ato (-are), -uto (-ere) and -ito (-ire): parlato, venduto, finito.
  • It translates both the English simple past and the present perfect: Ho mangiato = "I ate" or "I have eaten".
  • With avere, the participle does not agree with the subject.
  • Non goes before the auxiliary: Non ho capito.
  • Già, appena, ancora, mai and sempre usually sit between the auxiliary and the participle.
  • Verbs of movement and change usually take essere instead, and many common verbs have irregular participles.