Learn Hardcore Italian: La spiaggia era affollata ieri, ma abbiamo trovato un angolo silenzioso. - The beach was crowded yesterday, but we found a quiet corner.

Era is the imperfect form of essere (to be). In Italian, the imperfect tense describes a past condition or action that was ongoing or repeated, so era suggests that the beach wasn’t just momentarily crowded, but it was in that state over a continuous period of time.

Why is the adjective affollata ending in -a?

Affollata agrees with the gender and number of the noun spiaggia (beach), which is feminine and singular. Italian adjectives change their endings according to the noun they describe, so for a singular feminine noun, we use an -a ending.

Can I translate abbiamo trovato as “we did find,” or is that incorrect?

You could loosely render abbiamo trovato in English as “we found” or “we did find.” It’s the passato prossimo form of trovare (to find) with abbiamo (we have), which indicates a completed action in the past. Emphasizing it as “did find” is acceptable for emphasis in English, but normally “we found” is the straightforward equivalent.

What does un angolo silenzioso literally mean?

Literally, un angolo silenzioso means “a silent (or quiet) corner.” Angolo is masculine, so the adjective silenzioso also appears in its masculine form. If the noun were feminine (e.g., una zona), you’d see silenziosa instead.

Why is silenzioso used here instead of tranquillo?

Both silenzioso and tranquillo can describe a quiet or peaceful place. Silenzioso focuses more on the absence of noise, whereas tranquillo often emphasizes a relaxed or calm atmosphere. Either could work, but the sentence specifically highlights the lack of noise by using silenzioso.

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