Breakdown of Hanno fatto un ottimo lavoro.
un
a / an (masculine)
ottimo
excellent
avere
to have
il lavoro
work / job
Questions & Answers about Hanno fatto un ottimo lavoro.
What verb is fatto from?
Fatto is the past participle of fare (to do or to make). While regular verbs follow a predictable pattern to make their past forms, fare is irregular. It is one of the most common verbs in Italian, so fatto is a very important word to memorize!
Why does the sentence use hanno (they have) if the English translation is "They did"?
In everyday spoken Italian, the past tense we use here (the passato prossimo) covers both "they have done" and "they did". Even though it literally translates to "they have done", it is the standard way to say "they did" in Italian.
Why does ottimo come before lavoro? I thought adjectives go after the noun.
Why is the article un instead of uno before a word that starts with a vowel?
For masculine singular words starting with a vowel, the correct indefinite article (meaning "a" or "an") is just un. The word uno is only used for masculine words starting with a "z" or an "s" followed by a consonant, like uno sport.