Learn Italian: Il nemico colpì il cancello di legno. - The enemy struck the wooden gate.

colpì is the passato remoto (historical past) form of the regular -ire verb colpire. For regular -ire verbs in the third-person singular, the ending is -ì with a written accent. This accent is crucial because it tells you to put the stress on that final vowel.

How would this sentence change if there were multiple enemies?

The subject il nemico would become the plural i nemici. The verb must then change to the third-person plural of the passato remoto, taking the -irono ending for -ire verbs. The new sentence would be: I nemici colpirono il cancello di legno.

Why do we use di legno instead of an adjective for the word wooden?

In Italian, objects made of a specific material are described using the preposition di followed by the noun for that material. So instead of a distinct adjective for wooden, Italian uses di legno, which literally translates to of wood.

How is colpì different from ha colpito?