Breakdown of La bella dea decise di distruggere il tempio.
bello
beautiful
decidere
to decide
di
to (linking a verb to a following infinitive)
distruggere
to destroy
Questions & Answers about La bella dea decise di distruggere il tempio.
How do we form the passato remoto of decidere?
Decise is the third-person singular (she) form of the irregular verb decidere (to decide). In the passato remoto, it uses the irregular root decis- for the first-person singular (io decisi), third-person singular (lui/lei decise), and third-person plural (loro decisero). The other forms use the regular root decid-.
Could I use the passato prossimo (ha deciso) instead of decise here?
Yes, in everyday spoken Italian you would likely use ha deciso. However, the passato remoto is used for historical events, myths, or literature set in the distant past. Since this sentence is about a goddess destroying a temple, the passato remoto perfectly sets that storytelling mood.
Why do we need the word di before distruggere?
When you link decidere (to decide) to another action (an infinitive verb), you must use the preposition di. So, "to decide to do something" is always decidere di followed by the infinitive.
Why is the adjective bella placed before the noun dea?