Introduction

Fare means “to do, to make”, and this page covers exactly one thing: fare in the passato prossimo. The passato prossimo is the tense Italian speakers reach for when they talk about one finished action in the past, especially in conversation. On this page you will find the full passato prossimo table for fare, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about fare in the passato prossimo. It covers both 'to do' and 'to make', and it appears in dozens of everyday expressions: making a cake, doing homework, and talking about the weather, where Italian says the weather 'does' hot or cold. It is irregular in almost every tense, so its tables are worth learning whole. For example: “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake.” Everything on this page uses the forms of fare exactly as they are conjugated in the passato prossimo, so you can trust every form you see here.

Fare in the Passato prossimo — full table

Person Form
io ho fatto
tu hai fatto
lui/lei ha fatto
noi abbiamo fatto
voi avete fatto
loro hanno fatto
Gerund: facendo · Past participle: fatto
The gerund is facendo, which you use with stare to say what is happening at the same time as the main action: “Facendo un dolce, imparo molto.” — “While making a cake, I learn a lot.” The past participle is fatto, which you use with avere in the perfect tenses: ho fatto is the passato prossimo, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passato prossimo is only one part of how fare is used.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for fare, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

How the passato prossimo of fare is formed

The passato prossimo of fare is formed with the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle fatto: io ho fatto, tu hai fatto, lui ha fatto, noi abbiamo fatto, voi avete fatto, loro hanno fatto. The participle is given here in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Two things about the passato prossimo of fare are worth noticing. First, the auxiliary is the whole decision: once you know that fare takes avere, the rest is the present of avere plus one participle, and the same participle serves all four perfect tenses. Second, the passato prossimo is the tense of finished events with a clear result, so it pairs naturally with time words such as ieri, questa settimana and l'anno scorso — those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

Because the participle fatto never changes in the tables, the passato prossimo of fare is cheap to learn once the auxiliary is fixed. Learn the six auxiliary forms, add the participle, and the whole tense is yours.

When to use the passato prossimo of fare

The passato prossimo is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use fare in the passato prossimo most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. One finished action

The passato prossimo describes a single action that is finished, especially in spoken Italian. When the action has a clear end, the passato prossimo is the natural choice. Example: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “I have made a cake.”

2. Recent events

Use the passato prossimo for things that happened recently — today, this week, this morning — where the result is still visible in the present. Example: “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake.”

3. A sequence of events

When you tell what happened first, second and third, each step takes the passato prossimo. The tense moves the story forward one finished action at a time. Example: “Noi abbiamo fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “We have made a cake.”

4. An experience in your life

Use the passato prossimo for things you have done in your life, with or without a time expression. It is the tense of experience as much as of yesterday. Example: “Tu hai fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “You have made a cake.”

5. News and results

When you report news or a result, the passato prossimo carries it: something happened, and now the situation is different. The result matters more than the process. Example: “Loro hanno fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “They have made a cake.”

Passato Prossimo vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passato prossimo is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the passato prossimo describes one finished action, while the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual action in the past, or the background of a scene. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passato prossimo sentences use words such as ieri or questa settimana, while the imperfect sentences use una volta or ogni giorno.

  • Passato Prossimo: “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake”
  • Imperfect: “Lui faceva un dolce una volta.” — “He used to make a cake”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.
  • Passato Prossimo: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “I have made a cake”
  • Imperfect: “Io facevo un dolce una volta.” — “I used to make a cake”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.
  • Passato Prossimo: “Tu hai fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “You have made a cake”
  • Imperfect: “Tu facevi un dolce una volta.” — “You used to make a cake”
  • The passato prossimo sentence is one finished event; the imperfect sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.

Example sentences: fare in the passato prossimo

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions and the objects — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “I have made a cake”
  2. “Tu hai fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “You have made a cake”
  3. “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake”
  4. “Noi abbiamo fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “We have made a cake”
  5. “Voi avete fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “You have made a cake”
  6. “Loro hanno fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “They have made a cake”
  7. “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “I have made a cake”
  8. “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake”

Common mistakes

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Io sono fatto un dolce.” Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” Why: fare takes avere in the passato prossimo, not the other auxiliary. The io form is ho fatto — check the auxiliary before you build the tense.
  • Wrong: “Io faccio un dolce ieri.” Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” Why: Ieri points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho fatto for a finished action yesterday.
  • Wrong: “Io ho facendo un dolce.” Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” Why: The passato prossimo needs the past participle fatto, not the gerund facendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary.
  • Wrong: “Io fare un dolce.” Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” Why: The infinitive fare never takes a subject and never forms a past tense on its own. After io you need the conjugated passato prossimo form ho fatto.

Quiz: test yourself

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

  1. What is the io form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai fatto
    • B) ho fatto
    • C) ha fatto
    • D) abbiamo fatto

  2. What is the tu form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho fatto
    • B) ha fatto
    • C) hai fatto
    • D) abbiamo fatto

  3. What is the lui/lei form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho fatto
    • B) hai fatto
    • C) abbiamo fatto
    • D) ha fatto

  4. What is the noi form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) abbiamo fatto
    • B) ho fatto
    • C) hai fatto
    • D) ha fatto

  5. What is the voi form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho fatto
    • B) avete fatto
    • C) hai fatto
    • D) ha fatto

  6. What is the loro form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) ho fatto
    • B) hai fatto
    • C) hanno fatto
    • D) ha fatto

  7. What is the io form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai fatto
    • B) ha fatto
    • C) abbiamo fatto
    • D) ho fatto

  8. What is the tu form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

    • A) hai fatto
    • B) ho fatto
    • C) ha fatto
    • D) abbiamo fatto

Answer key

  1. B) ho fatto — the correct form is ho fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) hai fatto — the correct form is hai fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) ha fatto — the correct form is ha fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) abbiamo fatto — the correct form is abbiamo fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) avete fatto — the correct form is avete fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) hanno fatto — the correct form is hanno fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) ho fatto — the correct form is ho fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) hai fatto — the correct form is hai fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does fare mean in English?

fare means “to do, to make”. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -are verb.

How is the passato prossimo of fare formed?

With the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle fatto: io ho fatto, tu hai fatto, lui ha fatto, noi abbiamo fatto, voi avete fatto, loro hanno fatto.

When do I use the passato prossimo instead of the imperfect?

Use the passato prossimo for one finished action in the past. Use the imperfect for an ongoing or habitual past action, or for background description. The time words are your best clue: ieri points to the passato prossimo, una volta points to the imperfect.

What are the gerund and past participle of fare?

The gerund is facendo and the past participle is fatto. The perfect tenses use avere + fatto.

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