Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Ieri sera ho bevuto un tè caldo.
Why do we say ieri sera instead of ieri la sera or ieri di sera?
In Italian, ieri sera is the standard fixed expression for “last night.” No article (la) or preposition (di) is needed. Adding them sounds unnatural. Similarly, you wouldn’t say ieri mattina with an article; it’s always ieri mattina (yesterday morning).
What tense is ho bevuto, and how is it formed?
Ho bevuto is the passato prossimo (present perfect). It’s formed by:
- The present of the auxiliary verb avere (here, ho)
- the past participle of the main verb (bevuto, from bere)
So: ho (I have) + bevuto (drunk) = I drank / I have drunk.
- the past participle of the main verb (bevuto, from bere)
Why does bere use avere as its auxiliary and not essere?
Most transitive verbs in Italian (verbs that take a direct object) use avere in compound tenses. Since you’re drinking something (un tè caldo), bere is transitive and thus takes avere.
Is bevuto a regular past participle? Why isn’t it bebuto?
No, bevuto is irregular. The verb bere is irregular because its stem in compounds changes (from be- to bev-). That’s why the past participle is bevuto. You must memorize that pattern:
io bevo – ho bevuto
tu bevi – hai bevuto
etc.
Why is the article un used before tè, and why not uno?
Tè is a masculine noun beginning with a consonant, so the indefinite article is un (not uno, which is used before s+consonant, z, gn, etc.).
Thus: un tè, un panino, un libro.
Why does tè have a grave accent (
è)?The grave accent marks the stressed vowel and distinguishes the noun tè (tea) from the conjunction te (you, object form). It shows you must pronounce it as one syllable, stressed on the e.
Can we omit the article and say ho bevuto tè caldo?
Not in this context. When you mean “I drank a (cup of) hot tea,” you need un because you’re counting a serving. Without the article, tè sounds uncountable (“I drank hot tea” as a substance), which is less natural in Italian for a single portion.
Why does the adjective caldo come after the noun rather than before?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun. So you say tè caldo, casa grande, vino rosso. Placing an adjective before a noun often gives it a more figurative or emphatic meaning (e.g., grande uomo = great man, not large man). Here, you simply describe the tea as “hot,” so it goes after.