The passato prossimo with "avere" (the present perfect using "avere")
A2What is the passato prossimo with avere?
The passato prossimo is one of the main past tenses in Italian. It is a compound tense made with an auxiliary verb (either avere or essere) plus the past participle of the main verb. "Passato prossimo with avere" means the passato prossimo that uses the auxiliary verb avere (to have). Most Italian verbs — especially transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) — form the passato prossimo with avere.
Example (simple):
- Ho mangiato. (I have eaten / I ate.)
- Hai visto il film? (Have you seen the movie? / Did you see the movie?)
When do I use the passato prossimo with avere?
Use passato prossimo (with avere) in these common situations:
- Completed actions in the past, often with a time reference: "Ieri", "la settimana scorsa", "stamattina".
- Ieri ho studiato per tre ore. (Yesterday I studied for three hours.)
- A series of completed actions: "First I did this, then I did that."
- Ho acceso la luce, ho preso il libro e ho letto. (I turned on the light, took the book and read.)
- Actions that happened once or a specific number of times (completed events).
- Ho visitato Firenze due volte. (I visited Florence twice.)
- Experiences (more like English "have you ever..."/present perfect):
- Hai mai visto un concerto in quel teatro? (Have you ever seen a concert in that theater?)
Note on English: passato prossimo often corresponds to the English present perfect ("I have eaten") or the simple past ("I ate"). Context and regional style in English determine which translation sounds more natural.
How do I form the passato prossimo with avere?
- avere: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno
- Io ho + parlato = Ho parlato. (I have spoken / I spoke.)
- Tu hai + mangiato = Hai mangiato. (You have eaten / You ate.)
- Lui/lei ha + letto = Ha letto. (He/she has read / read.)
- Noi abbiamo + scritto = Abbiamo scritto. (We have written / wrote.)
- Voi avete + visto = Avete visto. (You all have seen / saw.)
- Loro hanno + fatto = Hanno fatto. (They have done / did.)
- Verbs in -are → past participle ends in -ato: parlare → parlato
- Ho parlato con Luigi. (I spoke with Luigi.)
- Verbs in -ere → regular participle ends in -uto (many -ere verbs are regular, but many are irregular): credere → creduto
- Hai creduto alle notizie? (Did you believe the news?)
- Verbs in -ire → past participle ends in -ito: dormire → dormito
- Abbiamo dormito bene. (We slept well.)
- fare → fatto: Ho fatto i compiti. (I did the homework.)
- dire → detto: Ha detto la verità. (He/she told the truth.)
- vedere → visto: Ho visto il film. (I saw the movie.)
- leggere → letto: Hai letto questo libro? (Have you read this book?)
- prendere → preso: Abbiamo preso il treno. (We took the train.)
- mettere → messo: Ho messo le chiavi sul tavolo. (I put the keys on the table.)
- aprire → aperto: Hanno aperto la porta. (They opened the door.)
- chiudere → chiuso: Ho chiuso la finestra. (I closed the window.)
- scrivere → scritto: Ho scritto una mail. (I wrote an email.)
- bere → bevuto: Hai bevuto il caffè? (Did you drink the coffee?)
- scegliere → scelto: Ho scelto il vestito. (I chose the dress.)
Agreement of the past participle after avere
What "agreement" means
Agreement (concordanza) means changing the ending of the past participle to match gender and number (singular/plural, masculine/feminine) of a noun or pronoun.
Main rule (short version):
With passato prossimo formed with avere, the past participle usually does NOT agree with the subject. However, it DOES agree with a direct object when that direct object (or the pronoun that represents it) appears before the verb.
Examples where there is no agreement (object after verb):
- Ho visto Maria. (I saw Maria.) → past participle visto stays masculine singular.
- Abbiamo letto il libro. (We read the book.) → letto unchanged.
Examples where there is agreement (object pronoun before auxiliary):
- L'ho vista. (I have seen her.) — "la" (Maria) placed before the auxiliary: vista (feminine singular).
- Le ho incontrate. (I met them (feminine).) — "le" before: incontrate (feminine plural).
- Li ho invitati. (I invited them (masculine).) — "li" before: invitati (masculine plural).
- L'ho comprata. (I bought it (feminine: la casa).)
Agreement with "ne"
When "ne" replaces a direct object that refers to a quantity, the participle often agrees with the implied noun:
- Ho comprato due mele. → Ne ho comprate due. (I bought two apples → I bought two of them.)
About mi/ti/ci/vi (first/second person clitics)
If the direct object pronouns mi/ti/ci/vi appear before the auxiliary, some speakers and some registers allow agreement (Mi hanno vista). However, in everyday speech many speakers do not mark agreement after these clitics (Mi hanno visto). To begin, focus on agreement with lo/la/li/le and with ne; treat agreement with mi/ti/ci/vi as optional and dependent on register.
Pronouns, negation, questions, and adverbs
- Hai chiamato Marco? — Sì, l'ho chiamato. (Yes, I called him.)
- Hai chiamato Maria? — Sì, l'ho chiamata. (Yes, I called her.)
- Hai comprato i biglietti? — Sì, li ho comprati. (Yes, I bought them.)
- Hai visto le ragazze? — Sì, le ho viste. (Yes, I saw them.)
Elision with l' and placement of pronouns
When lo or la come before the auxiliary and the auxiliary begins with h (ho/ha/hanno), you get elision: l'ho, l'hai, l'ha, l'hanno.
- L'ho visto. (I saw him/it.)
- L'hai chiamata? (Did you call her?)
Negation
Put non before the auxiliary (not before the participle):
- Non ho capito. (I didn't understand.)
- Non l'ho vista. (I didn't see her.)
Questions
In spoken Italian, yes/no questions often use intonation or inversion with the subject.
- Hai visto Luca? (Have/did you see Luca?)
- Non hai ancora finito? (Haven't you finished yet?)
Adverb placement (typical positions)
Adverbs such as già (already), ancora (yet/still), mai (ever/never), sempre (always) usually go between the auxiliary and the past participle:
- Ho già mangiato. (I have already eaten.)
- Non ho ancora finito. (I haven't finished yet.)
- Non ho mai visto quel posto. (I have never seen that place.)
But adverbs can also appear before the auxiliary for emphasis in some cases: "Già l'ho visto" (I already saw it).
Verbs that usually take avere — and tricky cases
Most transitive verbs use avere
- mangiare, leggere, vedere, chiamare, scrivere, prendere, capire, lavorare, comprare, fare, dire
- Ho mangiato la pizza. Ho scritto una lettera. Ho preso l'autobus.
Verbs that take essere (for reference)]
Some verbs express movement or change of state and usually use essere: andare (sono andato), venire (sono venuto), nascere (sono nato), morire (è morto), arrivare (sono arrivato), partire (sono partito), diventare (è diventato), reflexive verbs (si è svegliato).
Verbs that can take either avere or essere with a difference in meaning or object]
- cominciare / finire:
- La riunione è cominciata alle 9. (The meeting started at 9.) — essere because the subject (the meeting) undergoes the event.
- Hanno cominciato il lavoro alle 9. (They started the work at 9.) — avere because it has a direct object (il lavoro).
- scendere / salire:
- Sono sceso dalla macchina. (I got out of the car.)
- Ho sceso le scale. (I went down the stairs — with direct object "le scale").
- correre:
- Ho corso tre chilometri. (I ran three kilometers.) — often avere when the verb is transitive or focuses on the action's duration/distance.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using essere instead of avere with transitive verbs:
- Wrong: Sono mangiato la pizza. Correct: Ho mangiato la pizza.
- Forgetting irregular past participles:
- Wrong: Ho scritto → *Ho scrivuto. Correct: Ho scritto.
- Wrong agreement after a preceding direct object pronoun:
- Wrong: L'ho visto Maria. Correct: L'ho vista.
- Misplacing negation and adverbs:
- Wrong: Ho non visto. Correct: Non ho visto.
- Incorrect adverb position can change emphasis, but default is between auxiliary and participle: Non ho ancora finito.
- Confusing passato prossimo with imperfetto:
- Use imperfetto for habitual or ongoing past actions (Quando ero piccolo, giocavo a calcio = When I was a child, I used to play soccer). Use passato prossimo for completed events (Ieri ho giocato a calcio = Yesterday I played soccer).
- Ho mangiato. (I have eaten / I ate.)
- Hai visto quel film? (Have you seen that film?)
- Sì, l'ho visto. (Yes, I saw it.)
- Non ho ancora finito il lavoro. (I haven't finished the work yet.)
- Le ho telefonato ieri. (I phoned her yesterday.) — note agreement: telefonata → telefonata if object is "la".
- Li ho invitati alla festa. (I invited them to the party.)
- Ne ho prese tre. (I took three of them.)
- L'ho comprata la settimana scorsa. (I bought it last week.)
- Abbiamo fatto una passeggiata. (We took a walk.)
- Ho dovuto partire presto. (I had to leave early.)
- Mi hanno visto. / Mi hanno vista. (They saw me.) — agreement varies with register.
- Passato prossimo: A compound past tense used for completed past actions; formed with avere or essere + past participle.
- Avere (auxiliary): The verb "to have" used as auxiliary: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno.
- Past participle (participio passato): The second form of the verb used with auxiliaries (parlato, mangiato, visto, fatto, scritto).
- Direct object: The noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb. (Ho letto il libro → il libro is the direct object.)
- Agreement (concordanza): Changing the past participle to match gender and number of a preceding direct object (L'ho vista, Li ho invitati).
- Clitic pronoun: Short unstressed pronouns that attach before the auxiliary (mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le, ne).
Final tip: Memorize avere's present forms and the most common irregular past participles. Practice identifying the direct object: if a verb has a direct object, passato prossimo will usually use avere. Pay special attention to object pronouns before the auxiliary — that is when the participle can change its ending.