Learn Italian: Voltati, Maria è arrivata! - Turn around, Maria has arrived!

Voltati, Maria è arrivata!

Turn around, Maria has arrived!

Breakdown of Voltati, Maria è arrivata!

Questions & Answers about Voltati, Maria è arrivata!

Why is the "ti" attached to the end of voltati instead of coming before the verb?

Because this is a command (the imperative mood). When you give a positive command to someone using the informal tu form, pronouns like the reflexive ti are attached directly to the end of the verb. The base command is volta (turn), so adding ti makes it voltati (turn yourself).

What is the infinitive (dictionary form) of the verb voltati?

The base verb is voltarsi (to turn around). It is a reflexive verb, which is why it needs the reflexive pronoun ti when you conjugate it for "you" (tu).

Why does this sentence use è instead of ha for the past tense of "arrived"?

In Italian, verbs that describe motion from one place to another (like going, coming, leaving, and arriving) use essere (to be) as their helper verb in the past tense, rather than avere (to have). Since arrivare is a verb of motion, it takes è.

Why is it arrivata ending in "-a" instead of the standard arrivato?