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 OFTEN USED WITH THE PASSATO PROSSIMO
| 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 |
