Le salviette profumate erano finite ieri sera.

The scented napkins had run out last night.

Breakdown of Le salviette profumate erano finite ieri sera.

• ieri sera: last night
• la salvietta: the napkin
• profumato: scented
• finire: to run out

Questions & Answers about Le salviette profumate erano finite ieri sera.

Why does the sentence start with le instead of i or no article at all?

Le is the definite article for feminine plural nouns in Italian. Here salviette is feminine plural (“wipes”), so you need le to say “the ….” in the plural.

Why is the adjective profumate placed after the noun salviette?

In Italian most adjectives follow the noun they modify. So you say salviette profumate (“scented wipes”) rather than profumate salviette (which is possible only for very few adjectives in poetic or emphatic contexts).

Why does the adjective end in -ate (“profumate”) rather than -o, -a, or -i?

Adjectives in Italian agree in gender and number with the noun. Profumate is the feminine plural form (ending in -ate) because salviette is feminine plural.

Why is the verb phrase erano finite used instead of sono finite?

Erano finite is the trapassato prossimo (pluperfect): you form it with the imperfect of the auxiliary (essere → erano) plus the past participle (finite). It means “had run out” or “had been finished” by a certain time in the past. Sono finite would be the passato prossimo (“have run out”) and refers to a past action viewed from the present.

When do you use essere vs. avere with the verb finire?

• Transitive use (“to finish something”): you use avere (e.g. ho finito il libro – I finished the book).
• Intransitive use (“to come to an end,” “to run out”): you use essere (e.g. le salviette sono finite – the wipes have run out).

Why does the past participle finite agree with le salviette?

With essere as auxiliary, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since le salviette is feminine plural, the participle is finite (feminine plural).

What is the difference in meaning between erano finite ieri sera and sono finite ieri sera?

• Erano finite ieri sera (trapassato): “they had run out last night” – often used when you’re situating that event before another past event (even if that other event is just implied).
• Sono finite ieri sera (passato prossimo): “they ran out yesterday evening” – a simple past action seen from now.

Could you replace ieri sera with something else?

Yes, you could use other time expressions like:
• la sera scorsa – last evening
• ieri – yesterday
• ieri mattina – yesterday morning
Just keep in mind the tense: if you use passato prossimo (sono finite), you’re anchoring to “yesterday” itself; if you keep trapassato (erano finite), you imply “had run out” before some other past reference.