Breakdown of Abbiamo preso una decisione importante.
una
a / an (feminine)
importante
important
avere
to have
prendere
to take
la decisione
the decision
Questions & Answers about Abbiamo preso una decisione importante.
The translation says "We made", so why isn't the verb fatto?
In Italian, you don't "make" a decision; you "take" one! The verb is prendere (to take), and its past participle is irregular: preso. So, abbiamo preso una decisione literally means "we have taken a decision".
Both decisione and importante end in -e. How can I tell if this is a masculine or feminine phrase?
Look at the article! The word una is the feminine word for "a" or "an". Even though decisione ends in -e (which can be tricky because it doesn't end in the typical feminine -a), una tells you it is a feminine noun. The adjective importante has the same -e ending for both masculine and feminine singular words.
Where is the word for "we" in this sentence?
It is built into the helping verb abbiamo (we have). In Italian, you can usually drop subject pronouns like noi (we) because the verb form already tells you exactly who is doing the action.
Why does the past participle preso end in -o if decisione is feminine?
Because this sentence uses the helping verb avere (to have). When using avere to form the past tense, the past participle usually stays in its default -o form, regardless of the gender of the noun that follows it. You only change the ending to match the subject when the helping verb is essere (to be).
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