Breakdown of Il dio disse una parola divina e l'eroe nacque.
una
a / an (feminine)
e
and
la parola
the word
dire
to say, to tell
l'eroe
the hero (m)
nascere
to be born / to arise / stem from
il dio
the god
divino
divine
Questions & Answers about Il dio disse una parola divina e l'eroe nacque.
Why do we use the passato remoto here instead of the passato prossimo (ha detto, è nato)?
The passato remoto is used for completed events in the distant past, especially in literature, history, or myth. A sentence about a god (il dio) and a hero (l'eroe) has a strong mythological, storytelling feel, making the passato remoto the natural choice over the passato prossimo.
What verb does disse come from, and how is it conjugated in this tense?
Disse is the lui/lei form of dire (to say). In the passato remoto, dire follows a very common irregular pattern. It uses an irregular root (diss-) for the io, lui/lei, and loro forms (dissi, disse, dissero). The tu, noi, and voi forms are built on the regular root (dicesti, dicemmo, diceste).
The English translation says "was born", which looks passive. Why is nacque only one word?
In English, "to be born" is a passive phrase. In Italian, nascere is simply an active, intransitive verb meaning "to be born" or "to come into existence." Therefore, you just conjugate the verb directly rather than using a helping verb. Nacque is the active passato remoto form for "he was born".
How do we conjugate the rest of nascere in the passato remoto?
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