Passato prossimo
Present perfect
In this article there are some occurrences of the present perfect: ha raggiunto, è andato, è finito, è nato.
The “passato prossimo” is used to express an action that began and was completed in a recent past (yesterday, last week, last year…):
– Ieri ho mangiato una pizza (Yesterday I ate a pizza)
– Ho già visto questo film (I have already seen this movie)
The present perfect is a compound tense formed with the present indicative of “avere” or “essere” (auxiliary verbs) + the past participle of the verb.
Whether it requires “essere” or “avere” depends on the verb. Usually, if the verb is transitive, it requires “avere”, if intransitive or reflexive, it requires “essere”.
HO + SCRITTO = I wrote/have written
SONO + ANDATO/A = I went/have gone
You can normally form the “participio passato” from the infinitive of a regular verb by changing the ending of verb:
-are → ato (mangiare > mangiato)
-ere → uto (avere > avuto)
-ire → ito (dormire > dormito)
However, be careful, because several commonly used verbs have an irregular form:
fare → fatto
chiedere → chiesto
dire → detto