Learn Italian: Perché ti sei arrabbiata con lui? - Why did you get angry with him?

Perché ti sei arrabbiata con lui?

Why did you get angry with him?

Breakdown of Perché ti sei arrabbiata con lui?

Questions & Answers about Perché ti sei arrabbiata con lui?

Why do we use sei (are) instead of hai (have) in this sentence?

In Italian, reflexive verbs like arrabbiarsi (to get angry) always take essere (to be) as their helper verb in the past tense (passato prossimo). So instead of using avere (to have), you must use essere, making it ti sei rather than ti hai.

Why does the verb end in -a (arrabbiata)?

Because this sentence uses essere as the helper verb, the past participle (arrabbiata) must agree in gender and number with the subject. The -a ending tells us that the person being spoken to ("you") is female. If you were asking a male, it would be Perché ti sei arrabbiato?

What is the dictionary form of the verb for "to get angry"?

The infinitive is arrabbiarsi. It is a reflexive verb, which literally translates to "to anger oneself." The -si on the end of the dictionary form is the reflexive pronoun, which changes to ti (yourself) in this sentence to match "you".

Why is it con lui instead of using a direct object pronoun like lo?