Breakdown of Il cane si è spaventato e io mi sono arrabbiato.
io
I
e
and
il cane
dog
spaventarsi
to get scared
arrabbiarsi
to get angry
si
himself, herself, themselves (reflexive)
Questions & Answers about Il cane si è spaventato e io mi sono arrabbiato.
Why do we use è and sono (from essere) instead of avere here?
The translation says 'got scared' and 'got angry'. Where is the word for 'got'?
Italian doesn't use a verb like 'to get' for changing emotions. Instead, it uses reflexive verbs. Spaventarsi literally means 'to scare oneself', and arrabbiarsi means 'to anger oneself'. So, si è spaventato is simply how Italians express 'it got scared'.
Why do the pronouns si and mi go before the helper verbs?
What if the person speaking is a woman? Does the sentence change?
Yes! Because reflexive verbs use essere, the ending of the past action word (the past participle) must match the gender of the subject. If a woman is speaking, she would change the -o to an -a and say io mi sono arrabbiata. The dog's part remains spaventato because il cane is a masculine noun.
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