Breakdown of Ieri è successo un incidente.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
ieri
yesterday
succedere
to happen
l'incidente
the accident (m)
Questions & Answers about Ieri è successo un incidente.
Why does the word successo mean "happened"? Doesn't it mean "success"?
Successo can mean "success" as a noun, but here it is the irregular past participle of the verb succedere (to happen). So è successo means "happened" or "has happened".
Why is un incidente at the end of the sentence? Shouldn't it be "Un incidente è successo"?
In Italian, it is very common to put the subject after the verb when announcing a new event or occurrence. This is especially true with verbs like succedere (to happen) or arrivare (to arrive). While Un incidente è successo is grammatically okay, È successo un incidente sounds much more natural to native speakers.
Why do we use è instead of ha to say "happened"?
In the past tense (passato prossimo), verbs that describe a state of being, motion, or an event happening take essere (to be) as their helping verb instead of avere (to have). Since succedere means "to happen", it requires essere.
Why does successo end in "-o"?
Because we are using the helping verb essere, the past participle (successo) must agree with the gender and number of the subject (un incidente). Since incidente is a masculine singular noun, the participle ends in -o. If the subject were a feminine noun like una cosa (a thing), it would change to è successa una cosa.
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