In English, the past tense is a simple tense meaning it is only made up of a single verb. For example: I spoke. In Italian however, the past is a compound tense meaning that it is made up of an auxilary verb and a past partciple. So in Italian you wouldn't say "I spoke" but rather 'I have spoken. Here is how you do it:

First we need to learn th verb "avere" which means "to have"

avere in the present tense
Ho = I have
Hai = you (informal) have
Ha = he or she has or it can mean you (formal) have
Abbiamo = we have
Avete = you (plural/informal) have
Hanno = they have or you (plural/formal) have

Now we need to learn how to form a past particple

To form a past partciple, start from the infinitve form of the verb. Infinitives end in either "are" "ere" or "ire"

If the infinitive ends in "are" then you cut off the "are" and add the letters "ato" parlare ---> parl ---> parlato = spoken

If the infinitive ends in "ere" then you cut off the "ere" and add the letters "uto" vedere ---> ved ---> veduto = seen

Id the infinitive ends in "ire" then you cut off the "ire" and add the letters "ito" finire ---> fin ---> finito = finished

OK, now we know how to conjugate the verb avere and how to form a past particple. Let's put it all together and make some sentences.

The formula is Avere in the present tense (see above) + the past particple

For example: To translate "I spoke" into Italian we go to the "I" form of the verb avere (which is "ho") and then we form our past partciple (parlare (to speak) ---> parl ---> parlato)we put them together and come up with:

Ho parlato = I spoke or I have spoken.

Let's try another one:

They saw

"They" form of avere = hanno
vedere (to see) ---> ved ---> veduto

Hanno veduto = they saw.

Now you can try some of these on your own:

we ate (mangiare = to eat) For this one go to the "we" form of the verb avere above and then make your past particple

I finished (finire = to finish)

they sang (cantare = to sing)

He saw (vedere = to see)

You plural/formal swam (nuotare = to swim)

Please note that there are many many verbs that have irregular past participles so the above rules will not always work in all cases.

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Dimmi con chi vai e ti dirò chi sei.

Thanks you made it simple!
Suzan

Grazie Mille!

Io ho imparto italiano per sette mese! This is very helpful because now I'm getting into past tense verbs!

You're very welcome! Remember though that there are indeed many verbs with irregular past participles. For example: vedere (to see) ---> visto. There are also about 20 verbs that are conjugated with the verb "essere" in the past tense. I will do another post about those later on!

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Dimmi con chi vai e ti dirò chi sei.

that really helped, Giacomo
Grazie mille mille mille

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What is a friendship? A soul dwelling in two bodies

Formation of the Passato Prossimo with Essere The passato prossimo is generally conjugated with avere;
however there are some situations in which essere must be used. Many verbs of motion, and all reflexive verbs, require essere.
Some of the most common verbs that take essere are:

to arrive arrivare
to go andare
to go out uscire
to enter entrare
to come venire (venuto)
to be essere (stato)
to leave partire
to stay, be stare (stato)
to disappear sparire
to come back/return tornare
to be born nascere (nato)
to die morire (morto)
to remain rimanere (rimasto)
to get up alzarsi
Note that irregular past participles are in parentheses.
And before we get to an example, there is just one other difference between essere and avere for the
passato prossimo. While in conjugations with avere, the past participle does not agree with the
subject, it must in essere.
For example: If you are a girl and want to say 'I spoke', you say 'ho parlato'. But if you want to
say 'I was', you would use essere and the participle would agree, so you would say 'sono stata'.
The same changes occur for plural subjects, such as noi, which can have a past participle ending in -i or -e.
Now for an example of a passato prossimo conjugation with essere: nascere- to be born

Io sono nato/a
Tu sei nato/a
Lui/Lei è nato/a
Noi siamo nati/e
Voi siete nati/e
Loro sono nati/e