Breakdown of Una nuova finestra è stata installata dal falegname in cucina.
essere
to be
la finestra
the window
da
from
in
in
la cucina
the kitchen
nuovo
new
installare
to install
il falegname
the carpenter
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Questions & Answers about Una nuova finestra è stata installata dal falegname in cucina.
How is the passive voice formed in this sentence, and what tense is è stata installata?
This is the passato prossimo passivo. In Italian you form it by using essere in the passato prossimo plus the past participle of the main verb. Grammatically:
- essere (passato prossimo, 3sg) = è stato (masc.) / è stata (fem.)
- installata (past participle of installare, agreeing with finestra)
So è stata installata literally means “has been installed.”
- installata (past participle of installare, agreeing with finestra)
Why does the past participle installata end in –a instead of –o?
In the passive voice the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject. Here the subject is una finestra (feminine singular), so we use installata rather than installato.
Why is the agent introduced with dal falegname instead of just da falegname?
When you specify the “doer” in a passive clause, you use da + definite article:
- da + il = dal
- da + la = dalla, etc.
So dal falegname means “by the carpenter.”
Could we drop dal falegname altogether? What happens if we omit it?
Yes. If the agent is obvious or unimportant, you can omit it. You’d get:
Una nuova finestra è stata installata in cucina.
That simply means “A new window has been installed in the kitchen,” without saying who did it.
Why is in cucina used here instead of nella cucina?
When talking about rooms in a general sense, Italians normally say in cucina, in camera, in bagno, without the article. Using nella cucina (“in the kitchen”) is possible but sounds more formal or specific to one kitchen.
Why is the adjective nuova placed before finestra? Could it go after?
Yes, you could say una finestra nuova, but placing nuova before the noun (una nuova finestra) is very common when introducing something that wasn’t there before.
- una nuova finestra (a new window, just installed)
- una finestra nuova (a window that happens to be new)
The first focuses on the event of getting a replacement/addition.
What’s the difference between La finestra è installata and La finestra è stata installata?
- La finestra è installata is a present simple passive: “The window is installed” (stative description).
- La finestra è stata installata is a present perfect passive: “The window has been installed” (focus on the action that has just occurred).