The everyday past
The passato prossimo is the tense Italians use for completed past events in conversation: I ate, I went, I saw. It has two pieces: a present-tense auxiliary (avere or essere) and a past participle.
Ho mangiato covers both 'I ate' and 'I have eaten'. English splits those two ideas; spoken Italian does the whole job with this one tense, which is why it is worth automatising early.
Everything you drilled in the essere and avere unit now pays off: the auxiliary is just their present tense.
Regular participles
- -are verbs: -ato. parlare, parlato; mangiare, mangiato.
- -ere verbs: -uto. vendere, venduto; credere, creduto.
- -ire verbs: -ito. dormire, dormito; capire, capito.
| Ho mangiato una pizza intera. | I ate a whole pizza. |
| Abbiamo dormito fino a tardi. | We slept in late. |
| Hai capito la spiegazione? | Did you understand the explanation? |
The irregular participles you cannot avoid
Many of the most common -ere verbs have short, irregular participles. This dozen covers a huge share of real conversation.
| Infinitive | Participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| fare | fatto | done, made |
| dire | detto | said |
| leggere | letto | read |
| scrivere | scritto | written |
| vedere | visto | seen |
| prendere | preso | taken |
| mettere | messo | put |
| aprire | aperto | opened |
| chiudere | chiuso | closed |
| bere | bevuto | drunk |
| vivere | vissuto | lived |
| nascere | nato | born |
| Abbiamo visto un film bellissimo ieri sera. | We saw a beautiful film last night. |
| Hanno aperto un ristorante nuovo in centro. | They opened a new restaurant downtown. |
Choosing the auxiliary, in brief
Verbs with a direct object take avere: ho mangiato la pasta, hai letto il libro. Verbs of movement or change of state take essere: sono andato, è arrivata, siamo nati. Reflexive verbs always take essere.
With essere, the participle agrees with the subject like an adjective: Marco è andato, Maria è andata, i ragazzi sono andati, le ragazze sono andate. With avere, the base participle stays in -o.
The full logic of the choice, including the tricky verbs, has its own Study Desk lesson linked below. For this unit, master the mechanics.
| Maria è andata a Firenze in treno. | Maria went to Florence by train. essere + agreement: andata for a female subject. |
| Siamo arrivati tardi alla stazione. | We arrived late at the station. arrivare takes essere; -i for a mixed or male group. |
If you can ask 'what?' after the verb and get an answer, it takes avere. Ho letto... what? Il libro. No object possible? It is probably an essere verb.
Word order around the participle
Non goes before the auxiliary: Non ho capito. Short adverbs like già (already), mai (never), ancora (yet) and sempre (always) slide between the auxiliary and the participle: Ho già mangiato. Non ho mai visto Roma.
| Non ho capito la domanda. | I did not understand the question. |
| Ho già fatto i compiti. | I have already done my homework. già sits between ho and fatto. |
Pronunciation corner
Participles love double consonants. Holding them is what separates letto from leto, fatto from fato.
| mangiato | /manˈdʒato/ | mahn-JAH-toh |
| letto | /ˈlɛtto/ | LET-toh Hold the tt. |
| fatto | /ˈfatto/ | FAHT-toh Hold the tt; fato with one t is a different word (fate). |
| aperto | /aˈpɛrto/ | ah-PEHR-toh |
| vissuto | /visˈsuto/ | vees-SOO-toh Double s, crisp and long. |
Practice drill
Give the full passato prossimo for the verb and person in brackets. Include the auxiliary.
(mangiare, io) ___ troppo a pranzo.Show answer
ho mangiato
(vedere, noi) ___ quel film due volte.Show answer
abbiamo vistoIrregular participle.
(andare, lei) Maria ___ a Firenze.Show answer
è andataessere + feminine agreement.
(fare, tu) Cosa ___ ieri?Show answer
hai fatto
(arrivare, loro, masc.) ___ in ritardo.Show answer
sono arrivati
(scrivere, io) ___ tre email stamattina.Show answer
ho scritto
(prendere, voi) ___ il treno delle nove?Show answer
avete preso
(nascere, lui) ___ a Palermo.Show answer
è nato
Frequently asked questions
Does ho mangiato mean 'I ate' or 'I have eaten'?
Both. Spoken Italian uses the passato prossimo for completed past events regardless of how English would phrase them. Context supplies the nuance that English splits into two tenses.
How do I know which verbs have irregular participles?
Most irregular participles belong to -ere verbs, and they cluster in short forms like fatto, detto, letto, scritto, visto, preso and messo. Learn the dozen in this unit first; they cover the bulk of everyday speech.
When does the past participle agree with the subject?
Whenever the auxiliary is essere: è andata, sono arrivati, sono nate. With avere the participle stays in -o unless a direct object pronoun precedes the verb, a rule covered in the pronouns unit.
Where does 'già' go in a passato prossimo sentence?
Between the auxiliary and the participle: Ho già mangiato. The same slot serves mai, ancora and sempre: Non ho mai visto Venezia.
Related deep dives