Passato prossimo

This tense is used to describe or narrate events that took place in the past.

FORMATION

Present tense of AVERE + past participle of the main verb

Example

main verb past participle
LAVARE LAVATO

IO HO + LAVATO

(I WASHED MY CAR: io ho lavato la mia macchina)

Formation of PARTICIPIO PASSATO
-ARE VERBS =>   -ATO amare => amato camminare => camminato giocare => giocato studiare => studiato	-ERE VERBS  =>  -UTO credere => creduto perdere => perduto cadere => caduto temere => temuto	-IRE   VERBS  =>  -ITO finire => finito uscire => uscito pulire => pulito partire => partito
(WARNING: several --- ERE verbs have an irregular Past Participle

Formation
INFINITIVE	Past participle	Passato prossimo
Mangiare	MANGIATO	IO HO MANGIATO TU HAI MANGIATO LUI/LEI HA MANGIATO NOI ABBIAMO MANGIATO VOI AVETE MANGIATO LORO HANNO MANGIATO
Ricevere	RICEVUTO	IO HO RICEVUTO TU HAI     “ Etc.
FINIRE	FINITO	IO HO FINITO TU HAI FINITO etc

THE PAST IN ENGLISH

TO EAT

I  EAT is  present tense

I ATE  preterit 

I HAVE EATEN  present perfect  

The present perfect is composed of:

PRESENT TENSE OF "TO HAVE" + the PAST PARTICIPLE of the verb

The STRUCTURE of PASSATO PROSSIMO is similar to the PRESENT PERFECT in English.

MANGIARE  =  IO HO MANGIATO

IO HO is the Present Tense of AVERE

MANGIATO is the PAST PARTICIPLE of MANGIARE

The meaning of  IO HO MANGIATO is   I HAVE EATEN and also I ATE

HO is the present tense of AVERE*

MANGIATO is the Past Participle of MANGIARE

FORMATION OF PASSATO PROSSIMO

In a nutshell, the PASSATO PROSSIMO is formed with the

Present tense of AVERE +  the Past Participle of the main VERB.

io ho mangiato

tu hai mangiato

lui / lei ha mangiato

noi abbiamo mangiato

voi avete mangiato

loro hanno mangiato

WIth verbs that require "AVERE" the past participle DOES NOT CHANGE

What is the past participle?

In English it is the form of the verb in COMPOUND TENSES (tenses that are composed of TO HAVE and Past Participle):

I have touched, you have pushed, we have gone,  they have made, you have bought etc.

Also:  I HAD + past participle

FORMATION OF PAST PARTICIPLE IN ITALIAN

ARE verbs => ATO

mangiare > mangiato,

lavorare > lavorato,

pensare > pensato

ERE verbs => UTO

potere > potuto,

conoscere > conosciuto,

sapere > saputo

IRE verbs  => ITO

finire > finito,

partire > partito,

uscire > uscito

* We are dealing for the moment only with verbs that take AVERE as
auxiliary. These verbs are called TRANSITIVE VERBS.