Rulers of the Past
When recounting the history of Italy's famous dynasties, you will frequently need the auxiliary verbs essere (to be) and avere (to have). In the passato remoto (historic past), both verbs are highly irregular.
Essere (To Be)
The third-person singular ("he/she/it was") form is fu. Unlike regular passato remoto verbs that stress the final vowel, this short word does not take a written accent.
| That dynasty was truly influential in Italy. | Quella dinastia fu veramente influente in Italia. |
The third-person plural ("they were") is furono.
| The dukes of that family were certainly cruel. | I duchi di quella famiglia furono sicuramente crudeli. |
Avere (To Have)
For avere, the third-person singular ("he/she/it had") is ebbe.
| The pope had a secret alliance with the foreign king. | Il papa ebbe un'alleanza nascosta con il re straniero. |
The third-person plural ("they had") is ebbero.
| The dynasties had many soldiers in their territories. | Le dinastie ebbero molti soldati nei loro territori. |
Power and Prestige
You will often see these forms used side-by-side to describe cause and effect in historical narratives.
| They had immense wealth, therefore their prestige was great. | Ebbero una ricchezza immensa, perciò il loro prestigio fu grande. |
| They had the dominion of the sea, therefore they were strong. | Ebbero il dominio del mare, quindi furono forti. |
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