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Il giardino è illuminato dalle luci della festa.

Il giardino è illuminato dalle luci della festa.
The garden is illuminated by the party lights.
FromLesson 45inHardcore Italian

Questions & Answers about Il giardino è illuminato dalle luci della festa.

What voice is used in Il giardino è illuminato dalle luci della festa?
It’s in the passive voice, where the subject (il giardino) receives the action instead of performing it.
How do you form the passive voice in Italian?
You use the appropriate form of essere + the past participle of the main verb, optionally adding the agent with da/da + article. Here: è (3rd-person singular of essere) + illuminato (past participle of illuminare).
What role does dalle luci della festa play in this sentence?
It’s the agent phrase, indicating who or what performs the action. In English it corresponds to “by the lights of the party.”
Why is da + le contracted to dalle?

In Italian, prepositions like da combine with definite articles:
• da + il → dal
• da + la → dalla
• da + i → dai
• da + le → dalle

What is the function of della in della festa?
It’s the combination of di + la, meaning “of the.” So luci della festa means “lights of the party.”
Why is the past participle illuminato in the masculine singular form?
In a passive construction, the past participle agrees with the subject of the sentence. Here the subject is il giardino (masculine singular), so we use illuminato.
Can you express the same idea in the active voice?
Yes. You’d say: Le luci della festa illuminano il giardino. Here le luci (the lights) are the subject doing the action.
Could you omit the agent phrase dalle luci della festa?
Absolutely. The sentence Il giardino è illuminato still makes sense, meaning “The garden is lit,” without specifying by whom or what.
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