Breakdown of Il dominio del duca su questi territori fu forte.
essere
to be
questi
these (masculine)
su
on, about
forte
strong
Questions & Answers about Il dominio del duca su questi territori fu forte.
Why use the passato remoto fu here instead of è stato or era?
fu is the passato remoto (historical past) form of essere for "he/she/it was". We use it here because a duke's reign is a historical event that is completely finished and distant in time. While the imperfetto (era) would just describe an ongoing state in the past, fu states this strong dominion as a completed historical fact.
Duca ends in "-a", so why is the preposition del instead of della?
duca (duke) is a masculine noun, despite ending in -a. There are several masculine nouns in Italian ending in -a (like problema or poeta). Because it is masculine, it takes the masculine article il, which combines with di to become del. If we were talking about a female duchess, it would be la duchessa and della duchessa.
Does su usually translate to "over" in English?
Literally, su usually means "on". However, in Italian, su is the standard preposition used for exerting power, influence, or control "over" a place or people. You will frequently see it paired with words like dominio (dominion) or controllo (control).