Compound tenses such as the passato prossimo are formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle (participio passato). The past participle of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending -are, -ere, or -ire and adding the appropriate final ending: -ato, -uto, or -ito (see tables below).

REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES OF -ARE VERBS INFINITIVE FORM PAST PARTICIPLE

camminare (to walk) camminato

imparare (to learn) imparato

lavare (to wash) lavato

telefonare (to telephone) telefonato

REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES OF -ERE VERBS INFINITIVE FORM PAST PARTICIPLE

battere (to beat) battuto

credere (to believe) creduto

sapere (to know) saputo

tenere (to keep) tenuto

REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES OF -IRE VERBS INFINITIVE FORM PAST PARTICIPLE

capire (to understand) capito

finire (to finish) finito