Learn Italian: I soldati arrestarono qualunque sospettato.

I soldati arrestarono qualunque sospettato.

The soldiers arrested any suspect.

Breakdown of I soldati arrestarono qualunque sospettato.

Questions & Answers about I soldati arrestarono qualunque sospettato.

What tense is arrestarono and how is it formed?

It is the passato remoto (remote past tense) of the regular verb arrestare. To form the third-person plural ("they") for -are verbs, you drop the -are ending and add -arono. You will usually encounter this tense in novels, history books, or formal storytelling.

Where does the spoken stress fall in the word arrestarono?

The stress falls on the third-to-last syllable: ar-re-sta-ro-no. This pronunciation rule is consistent for all third-person plural forms in the passato remoto, whether the verb originally ended in -are, -ere, or -ire.

Why is qualunque used here for "any", and can it be made plural?

Qualunque means "any" or "whichever" in the sense of "any at all" or "it doesn't matter which one." It is an invariable adjective, meaning it never changes its ending to match gender or number. Crucially, it must always be followed by a singular noun, which is why it is paired with the singular sospettato here.

Is sospettato a verb or a noun in this sentence?

It acts as a noun here, meaning "suspect." It is derived from the past participle of the verb sospettare (to suspect). Italian frequently turns past participles into nouns to describe a person receiving an action—so un sospettato is literally a "suspected person."