Breakdown of Questo mattone rosso sarà usato dall'architetto per il pavimento.
essere
to be
questo
this (masculine)
rosso
red
per
for / in order to / because of
il pavimento
the floor
usare
to use
l'architetto
the architect (m)
dal
by the (agent of a passive verb)
il mattone
the brick
Questions & Answers about Questo mattone rosso sarà usato dall'architetto per il pavimento.
How is the passive voice formed in "sarà usato"?
It is formed by taking the future tense of the auxiliary verb essere (sarà, meaning "it will be") and adding the past participle of the main verb usare (usato, meaning "used").
Would the ending of "usato" change if the subject were feminine or plural?
Yes. In the passive voice, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Here, usato ends in -o to match the masculine singular subject, mattone (brick). If the subject were feminine, like la pietra (the stone), it would become sarà usata.
Why does the word for "by" become "dall'" here?
In a passive sentence, the person or thing doing the action is introduced by the preposition da (by). You must combine da with the definite article of the noun that follows it. Since architetto starts with a vowel, it takes the article l'. Combining da + l' creates the articulated preposition dall'.
Does the word "pavimento" mean "pavement"?
No, pavimento is a false friend! It actually translates to the indoor floor of a room or building. If you want to talk about an outdoor pavement or sidewalk, you would use the word marciapiede.
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