Quando siamo arrivati al cinema, il film era già cominciato.

When we arrived at the cinema, the film had already started.

Breakdown of Quando siamo arrivati al cinema, il film era già cominciato.

• quando: when
• noi: we
• arrivare: to arrive
• già: already
• il film: the film
• il cinema: the cinema
• al: at
• cominciare: to start

Questions & Answers about Quando siamo arrivati al cinema, il film era già cominciato.

What tense is siamo arrivati, and why is it used here?

Siamo arrivati is the passato prossimo, which describes a completed action in the recent past. In this sentence it marks the precise moment when we arrived at the cinema.

Why is essere used as the auxiliary with arrivare instead of avere?

In Italian, verbs of motion or change of state typically take essere in compound tenses. Since arrivare expresses movement, its passato prossimo must use essere, not avere.

Why does the past participle in siamo arrivati end in -i?

When you use essere as the auxiliary, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

• arrivati (–i) = masculine plural (we = gruppo misto or all-male)
• If the group were all women, you’d say siamo arrivate (–e).

What tense is era già cominciato, and why is it used instead of ha già cominciato?

Era già cominciato is the trapassato prossimo (pluperfect). It’s formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary (essere → era) + past participle. We use it to show an action that was already completed before another past event (the arriving). Using ha già cominciato (passato prossimo) would not indicate this sequence clearly.

Why does cominciare here use essere rather than avere?

Cominciare is:

• Intransitive (no direct object): takes essere (e.g., Il film è cominciato).
• Transitive (with a direct object): takes avere (e.g., Il regista ha cominciato il film).
  In our sentence it’s intransitive (“the film began”), so it uses essere.

What is the role of già, and why is it placed before cominciato?

Già means “already.” In compound tenses it normally sits between the auxiliary and the past participle:
“era già cominciato.”
This emphasizes that the starting point was completed before the arrival.

Why is there a comma after Quando siamo arrivati al cinema?

In Italian, a temporal or conditional subordinate clause (here introduced by quando) is typically followed by a comma when it comes before the main clause. It clarifies the sentence rhythm and boundary between “when…” and the resulting action.

How is al cinema formed, and why not alla cinema?

Al is the contraction of a + il.

• Il cinema is masculine singular, so a + il → al.
• Alla (a + la) would only be used before a feminine singular noun (e.g., alla stazione).