Breakdown of La consegna è stata ritardata dalla pioggia intensa di ieri.
di
of
la pioggia
the rain
ieri
yesterday
da
by
la consegna
the delivery
ritardare
to delay
intenso
heavy
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Questions & Answers about La consegna è stata ritardata dalla pioggia intensa di ieri.
Why is the verb form è stata ritardata used here instead of an active form?
This sentence is in the passive voice, which shifts the focus from the “doer” (the rain) to the “receiver” (the delivery). In the active you’d say:
- La pioggia intensa di ieri ha ritardato la consegna.
But by using the passive, you emphasize the delivery itself: - La consegna è stata ritardata …
How do you form the passive voice in Italian, and why do stata and ritardata agree with consegna?
Italian passive = appropriate tense of essere + past participle of the main verb.
1) essere in the same tense as the active auxiliary
2) past participle agrees in gender & number with the subject of the passive.
Here consegna is feminine singular, so:
- è (3rd-sing. present of essere)
- stata (fem.-sing. past participle of essere)
- ritardata (fem.-sing. past participle of ritardare)
Why is dalla used instead of da la before pioggia?
In Italian prepositions like da combine (“elide”) with definite articles:
- da + il → dal
- da + la → dalla
- da + lo → dallo
- da + l’ → dall’
Hence dalla pioggia = da- la pioggia.
What’s the role of di ieri at the end of the sentence?
di + a time expression indicates “of …” as in “belonging to or occurring in that time.”
- la pioggia di ieri = “yesterday’s rain.”
You could also say ieri la pioggia intensa ha ritardato…, but di ieri directly attributes the rain to the previous day.
Why is the adjective intensa placed after pioggia?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives typically follow the noun they modify:
- pioggia intensa rather than intensa pioggia (though both are grammatically possible, the post-noun position is more neutral/factual).
Placing an adjective before the noun can add emphasis or a stylistic nuance.
What tense is è stata ritardata?
It’s the passato prossimo in passive voice:
- è = present of essere
- stata = past participle of essere (to form the compound)
- ritardata = past participle of ritardare, agreeing with consegna.