Breakdown of Chi ha nascosto l'anello? L'ha nascosto il bambino.
il bambino
the child
avere
to have
chi
who, whom
lo
him/it (direct object)
nascondere
to hide
l'anello
the ring
Questions & Answers about Chi ha nascosto l'anello? L'ha nascosto il bambino.
What does the L' in L'ha nascosto stand for?
Does nascosto have to match the pronoun lo?
Yes! When you use a direct object pronoun like lo, la, li, or le before the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree with it. Since lo (hiding inside l') replaces the masculine singular l'anello, the past participle ends in -o (nascosto). If it had been a feminine noun like la scarpa (the shoe), it would be l'ha nascosta.
Why is the subject il bambino at the very end of the sentence?
Italian word order is very flexible. While you can absolutely say Il bambino l'ha nascosto, moving the subject to the end adds emphasis. By saying L'ha nascosto il bambino, the speaker is strongly answering the "Who?" question, essentially saying "It was the child who hid it."
What is the dictionary form of the verb for nascosto?
It comes from nascondere (to hide). It has an irregular past participle, so instead of a standard ending, you just have to memorize that it becomes nascosto.
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