Breakdown of I passanti guardarono l'attore recitare in piazza.
in
in / made of (material)
la piazza
the square
guardare
to look at / to watch
l'attore
actor
il passante
the passer-by
recitare
to act (perform)
Questions & Answers about I passanti guardarono l'attore recitare in piazza.
Why is recitare in the infinitive here instead of being conjugated?
In Italian, when using verbs of perception like guardare (to watch), vedere (to see), or sentire (to hear), you can follow them directly with an object and an infinitive verb. Here, guardarono l'attore recitare translates perfectly to "watched the actor perform." You don't need a preposition or the word che (that) before the infinitive.
Which tense is guardarono?
It is the passato remoto (historical past) of guardare for the "they" (loro) form. You will usually encounter this tense in literature, storytelling, and historical writing to describe completed actions in the past. In everyday spoken Italian, you would be much more likely to hear the passato prossimo: I passanti hanno guardato.
Is the word passanti related to the verb passare?
Why is it in piazza and not nella piazza?
For many common public locations like piazza (square), banca (bank), or chiesa (church), Italian uses the preposition in without the definite article when referring to the place generally. You would only use nella (in + the) if you were specifying a particular square, for example: nella piazza principale (in the main square).
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