The passato prossimo—grammatically referred to as the present perfect—is a compound tense (tempo composto) that expresses a fact or action that happened in the recent past or that occurred long ago but still has ties to the present.
Here are a few examples of how the passato prossimo appears in Italian:
Ho appena chiamato. (I just called.)
Mi sono iscritto all'università quattro anni fa. (I entered the university four years ago.)
Questa mattina sono uscito presto. (This morning I left early.)
Il Petrarca ha scritto sonetti immortali. (Petrarca wrote enduring sonnets.)
The following table lists some adverbial expressions that are often used with the passato prossimo:
COMMON ADVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS | |
ieri |
yesterday |
ieri pomeriggio |
yesterday afternoon |
ieri sera |
last night |
il mese scorso |
last month |
l'altro giorno |
the other day |
stamani |
this morning |
tre giorni fa |
three days ago |