Breakdown of L'imperatore fondò un grandissimo impero.
un
a / an (masculine)
grande
big
l'imperatore
the emperor (m)
fondare
to found
l'impero
the empire (m)
Questions & Answers about L'imperatore fondò un grandissimo impero.
What tense is fondò, and how do we form it for regular verbs like this?
It is the passato remoto (historical past) of the regular verb fondare. For the third-person singular (he/she/it) of -are verbs in this tense, you simply drop the -are ending and add an -ò with a grave accent.
Why is the accent mark on fondò so important?
The written accent is mandatory because it shifts the spoken stress to the final syllable. Without the accent, fondo is stressed on the first syllable and means either I found in the present tense, or bottom as a noun.
Why does the sentence use grandissimo instead of molto grande?
A quick refresher: why is it un grandissimo impero instead of uno?
The indefinite article always matches the sound of the word immediately following it. Even though the noun impero starts with a vowel, the word right after the article is the adjective grandissimo. Since grandissimo starts with a simple consonant, it takes the standard masculine article un.
Learn L'imperatore fondò un grandissimo impero and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free