Compound tenses such as the passato prossimo are formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle (participio passato). The past participle of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending -are, -ere, or -ire and adding the appropriate final ending: -ato, -uto, or -ito (see tables below).4 V/ z# ]5 u7 e s' e& h5 i
REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES OF -ARE VERBS+ \/ {9 G9 L# A6 |8 y
INFINITIVE FORM
$ D) k* v, ^- M; j! `0 l PAST PARTICIPLE
( p. Z, k8 ^! G0 q& n camminare (to walk)
, W! E3 ^8 W) O; y x, n camminato
) k3 Y. w8 p, O* v$ }' S imparare (to learn)" K+ w3 k8 R2 ^) c5 N
imparato
' d6 Z2 f5 ~0 [7 X* D) L' b lavare (to wash)1 [, {( a$ Z% ~: O! c7 N1 m7 q
lavato
) O$ T' q3 R- [! G: \8 y% N8 B! e telefonare (to telephone)8 `3 v4 k9 D5 q0 p" E, J6 N7 |7 G
telefonato
% }' A- j8 V% r4 R F REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES OF -ERE VERBS9 V/ j# K2 Q. p( r
INFINITIVE FORM
* Q! @' m# u) c9 E! K6 A PAST PARTICIPLE
2 w& r! t1 H8 K* x battere (to beat)/ O- A# \5 A9 b g9 v4 k
battuto2 ~ U }( L6 l4 n8 G
credere (to believe)
7 d6 B! {7 t) f; b" E: K1 L creduto' b4 ]) `% N& J: n" \, ]2 E( x
sapere (to know)
- J" m$ f% {2 k; {' A saputo
4 h3 w* _5 `0 _% {; @/ `* L tenere (to keep)
9 m) O. d, m* r K5 {; d- k tenuto
: e- F- c) \8 U/ i REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES OF -IRE VERBS
( I- w2 Y( d; t. u INFINITIVE FORM
5 E5 f# { ]2 t. A B PAST PARTICIPLE
7 g' O) i; w) M+ U0 { capire (to understand)
# L0 l' Z/ u( R capito
B0 C7 J) k! f0 ]( c8 N finire (to finish)3 F8 x/ O% h U j, `
finito
2 I) E) G: F% s' }7 w0 I& t6 `3 L gradire (to accept)) g' u& P K- m" I
gradito8 U; @7 o4 T; P- [) d
sentire (to feel, to smell)
3 c, ^( S- a* i& R sentito% z0 q: n5 U# _; T' S& }' }
Below are examples of the passato prossimo with conjugated forms of the verb avere.
8 w6 j* ]7 E |2 A! Z PASSATO PROSSIMO WITH REGULAR VERBS
& r# g6 |" r2 w8 g7 k& y PERSON
& [4 t- Q# O+ Y' |: d IMPARARE (TO LEARN)
1 L6 U/ w% h9 ^ CREDERE (TO BELIEVE)* s w& t5 X% \; z* i5 v7 K
CAPIRE (TO UNDERSTAND)
f' e/ x0 }" O1 C) s/ O# j2 A% @4 A/ f (io)0 A4 C9 l! l7 b& x9 _5 S3 \
ho imparato
5 `( O& Q6 h* T ho creduto* L: _; W9 R9 l
ho capito9 G' M# O1 P; t3 x8 P1 Q9 _
(tu): ^8 a9 m2 v- B1 R. s, e# X! V, I+ S
hai imparato
6 P; W% Q2 ], c3 f hai creduto
& ^) d% g+ J2 }4 _/ k* j6 I hai capito
4 @ b3 f0 T- \1 H (lui, lei, Lei)
: }5 f1 O5 e/ @4 u. O, J7 ? ha imparato3 p% R/ d6 L# J0 |& s
ha creduto
% Q, M( k. z7 i: ^' j; _ ha capito
4 N! r# L( `* [) Z ]6 ~/ k (noi)
- K! E+ {% N7 W0 g/ [7 E: V abbiamo imparato
( n! o8 T g2 Z3 n9 L) o0 } abbiamo creduto
" l" O' ~+ M0 s0 E% P" k, ? abbiamo capito. J/ {% O6 n$ Z8 z" y
(voi); W& A' w' e/ F( z, U4 n
avete imparato
6 T: h4 ~! A' H: S$ ` avete creduto
. q! f' x1 D8 k" u* x avete capito3 ?: g% ~8 l8 I+ r* `# A) R9 S
(loro, Loro)3 P% E+ a" |2 F7 `7 Z3 Y
hanno imparato
5 N) D& j- b3 h hanno creduto1 P0 V3 ] @3 B! o w4 ] ^1 b4 r8 {
hanno capito |