Breakdown of Il soggetto si era voltato improvvisamente.
essere
to be
improvvisamente
suddenly
voltarsi
to turn around
il soggetto
the subject
Questions & Answers about Il soggetto si era voltato improvvisamente.
Why do we use era here instead of aveva for "had"?
Voltarsi (to turn around) is a reflexive verb, as shown by the si at the beginning. In Italian compound tenses like the trapassato prossimo (pluperfect), all reflexive verbs must use essere (to be) as their helping verb. So, instead of using avere, Italian uses the imperfect form of essere (era).
Where exactly do I put the reflexive pronoun si in the trapassato prossimo?
The reflexive pronoun (like mi, ti, or si) always goes immediately before the helping verb. Here, si goes right before era, giving us si era voltato.
Does the ending of voltato change depending on who the subject is?
How is the word improvvisamente formed?