Word
I soldati salvarono l'imperatore.
Meaning
The soldiers saved the emperor.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of I soldati salvarono l'imperatore.
salvare
to save
l'imperatore
the emperor
il soldato
the soldier
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Questions & Answers about I soldati salvarono l'imperatore.
How do we form the loro (they) form of the passato remoto for a verb like salvare?
It comes from the regular -are verb salvare (to save). To make the "they" form in the passato remoto, you drop the -are ending and add -arono, giving us salvarono.
Why use the passato remoto (salvarono) here instead of the passato prossimo (hanno salvato)?
The passato remoto (historical past) is used for events that happened in the distant past and are completely finished. Sentences about ancient soldiers and emperors usually belong to history books or fairy tales, which is exactly where this tense is used. In everyday spoken Italian about a recent event, you would use the passato prossimo instead: I soldati hanno salvato l'imperatore.
Where does the stress fall when pronouncing salvarono?
In the loro form of the passato remoto, the spoken stress always falls on the third-to-last syllable. For salvarono, you emphasize the va: sal-VA-ro-no.
Why does imperatore use the article l' instead of il?