Introduction

Porre means “to place”, and this page covers exactly one thing: porre 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 porre, 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 porre in the passato prossimo. It is one of the -rre verbs, and it is totally irregular: the present, the remoto and the participle use different stems, so the io form is pongo, the participle is posto and the future is porrò. It means to place or to put something somewhere, and it is more formal than mettere. For example: “Lui ha posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “He has placed the book on the table.” Everything on this page uses the forms of porre exactly as they are conjugated in the passato prossimo, so you can trust every form you see here.

Porre in the Passato prossimo — full table

Person Form
io ho posto
tu hai posto
lui/lei ha posto
noi abbiamo posto
voi avete posto
loro hanno posto
Gerund: ponendo · Past participle: posto
The gerund is ponendo, which you use with stare to say what is happening at the same time as the main action: “Ponendo il libro sul tavolo, imparo molto.” — “While placing the book on the table, I learn a lot.” The past participle is posto, which you use with avere in the perfect tenses: ho posto 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 porre is used.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for porre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

How the passato prossimo of porre is formed

The passato prossimo of porre is formed with the auxiliary avere in the present plus the past participle posto: io ho posto, tu hai posto, lui ha posto, noi abbiamo posto, voi avete posto, loro hanno posto. 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. The -rre verbs use different stems in different tenses, but the passato prossimo is simple once the participle is fixed: io ho posto, tu hai posto, lui ha posto. The participle posto never changes in the tables, so learn it with the infinitive.

Two things about the passato prossimo of porre are worth noticing. First, the auxiliary is the whole decision: once you know that porre 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 posto never changes in the tables, the passato prossimo of porre 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 porre

The passato prossimo is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use porre 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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “I have placed the book on the table.”

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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “He has placed the book on the table.”

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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “We have placed the book on the table.”

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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “You have placed the book on the table.”

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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “They have placed the book on the table.”

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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “He has placed the book on the table”
  • Imperfect: “Lui poneva il libro sul tavolo una volta.” — “He used to place the book on the table”
  • 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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “I have placed the book on the table”
  • Imperfect: “Io ponevo il libro sul tavolo una volta.” — “I used to place the book on the table”
  • 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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “You have placed the book on the table”
  • Imperfect: “Tu ponevi il libro sul tavolo una volta.” — “You used to place the book on the table”
  • 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: porre 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 posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “I have placed the book on the table”
  2. “Tu hai posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “You have placed the book on the table”
  3. “Lui ha posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “He has placed the book on the table”
  4. “Noi abbiamo posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “We have placed the book on the table”
  5. “Voi avete posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “You have placed the book on the table”
  6. “Loro hanno posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “They have placed the book on the table”
  7. “Io ho posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “I have placed the book on the table”
  8. “Lui ha posto il libro sul tavolo questa settimana.” — “He has placed the book on the table”

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

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 porre in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

What does porre mean in English?

porre means “to place”. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ere verb.

How is the passato prossimo of porre formed?

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

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 porre?

The gerund is ponendo and the past participle is posto. The perfect tenses use avere + posto.

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