Le storie più antiche vengono tramandate di generazione in generazione.

The oldest stories are passed down from generation to generation.

Breakdown of Le storie più antiche vengono tramandate di generazione in generazione.

• antico: ancient
• più: most
• la storia: the story
• tramandare: to pass down

Questions & Answers about Le storie più antiche vengono tramandate di generazione in generazione.

What does tramandare mean and what kind of verb is it?

Tramandare is a first-conjugation regular verb meaning “to hand down” or “to pass on” (usually stories, traditions, knowledge). In the active voice you’d say for example:

• I genitori tramandano le storie ai figli.

Its principal parts are: tramandare – tramandato – tramandando.

How is the passive voice formed in vengono tramandate, and why is venire used instead of essere?

Italian has two common ways to form a passive:

1. Essere
   • participle (e.g. sono tramandate) – often describes a state resulting from the action.
2. Venire
   • participle (e.g. vengono tramandate) – emphasizes the action/process itself (“they are being passed down”).

In our sentence, vengono (3rd pl. of venire) plus tramandate (past participle) literally means “they are conveyed/passed down.”

You could also use the si-passive:

• Le storie più antiche si tramandano di generazione in generazione.

Why does the past participle tramandate end in -ate?