Learn Italian: Si sono innamorati subito. - They fell in love immediately.

Si sono innamorati subito.

They fell in love immediately.

Breakdown of Si sono innamorati subito.

subito

immediately / right away

innamorarsi

to fall in love

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Questions & Answers about Si sono innamorati subito.

Why does this sentence use si? Is it reflexive or reciprocal?

The verb for "to fall in love" is innamorarsi, which is a reflexive verb in Italian. However, when it is used in the plural form like si sono innamorati, it naturally takes on a reciprocal meaning: "they fell in love with each other."

Why is the helping verb sono (essere) used here instead of hanno (avere)?

All reflexive and reciprocal verbs (verbs that use mi, ti, si, ci, or vi) require essere as their helping verb in the past tense (passato prossimo). You cannot use avere with them.

Why does innamorati end in -i?

Because the sentence uses essere as the helping verb, the past participle (innamorato) must change its ending to match the subject. Since "they" is a plural subject (either an all-male or mixed-gender group), it takes the masculine plural ending -i.

Could I put the word subito somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes! You will often see adverbs placed between the helping verb and the past participle, like this: Si sono subito innamorati. Putting subito at the very end of the sentence is also perfectly correct and just adds a bit more emphasis to how quickly it happened.