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L'animale selvaggio era vicino alla tenda.

L'animale selvaggio era vicino alla tenda.
The wild animal was near the tent.
From Lesson 185:Concessive conjunctions (sebbene, benché, nonostante)·Italian

Breakdown of L'animale selvaggio era vicino alla tenda.

essere
to be
l'animale
animal
a
to / at
vicino
near / close
la tenda
tent
selvaggio
wild

Questions & Answers about L'animale selvaggio era vicino alla tenda.

Why do we use era (the imperfect) here instead of the passato prossimo (è stato)?
We use the imperfect (era) to describe an ongoing state or to set the scene in the past. The sentence describes where the animal was located over an unspecified period, rather than a single, completed event.
Why is it vicino alla and not just vicino la tenda?
The word vicino (near) usually needs the preposition a when it is followed by a noun. Here, a combines with the definite article la (for the feminine noun tenda) to form alla.
How would you make l'animale selvaggio plural?
It becomes gli animali selvaggi. For adjectives ending in -gio like selvaggio, the plural just drops the i so you don't end up with a double i.
I've seen the word tenda used inside a house. What does it mean there?
In addition to a camping tent, tenda is the standard Italian word for a window curtain or blind. You can usually tell which one is meant by the context!

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