Learn Italian: Il ladro è scomparso e nessuno lo ha visto. - The thief disappeared and nobody saw him.

Il ladro è scomparso e nessuno lo ha visto.

The thief disappeared and nobody saw him.

Breakdown of Il ladro è scomparso e nessuno lo ha visto.

Questions & Answers about Il ladro è scomparso e nessuno lo ha visto.

Why isn't there a non before lo ha visto if nessuno means 'nobody'?

When negative words like nessuno (nobody) or niente (nothing) come before the verb, you do not use non. You only use a double negative if the word comes after the verb. So, you can say either nessuno lo ha visto or non lo ha visto nessuno, and both mean exactly the same thing.

Why do we use è for the first verb (è scomparso) but ha for the second (ha visto)?

In the past tense, verbs that describe a change of state or movement, like scomparire (to disappear), use the auxiliary verb essere (è). Verbs that can act on a direct object, like vedere (to see), use avere (ha).

What is the dictionary form of scomparso?

The infinitive is scomparire (to disappear). It belongs to the -ire group of verbs but has an irregular past participle, which is why it becomes scomparso instead of following the regular pattern.

What is the purpose of lo in lo ha visto?

lo is a direct object pronoun meaning 'him', referring back to il ladro (the thief). In Italian, these object pronouns are placed immediately before the conjugated verb.