Breakdown of La sfilata di oggi è stata più provocatoria che audace.
essere
to be
oggi
today
di
of, from
più
more / anymore (with 'non')
la sfilata
fashion show
che
than (in comparisons)
provocatorio
provocative
audace
bold / daring
Questions & Answers about La sfilata di oggi è stata più provocatoria che audace.
Why does this sentence use che for "than" instead of di?
In Italian, when you compare two different qualities (adjectives) describing the same subject, you use più ... che. Here, you are comparing provocatoria and audace, which both describe the same fashion show. You only use di when comparing two different subjects (like saying "Marco is taller than Luca").
Our current lesson is about abstract concepts like il bello. Could we use il provocatorio or l'audace here?
Not in this context. Here, provocatoria and audace are functioning as regular adjectives describing a specific noun (la sfilata). To use the abstract form, you drop the noun entirely to talk about the concept itself, such as saying "I love the daring in modern art" (Amo l'audace nell'arte moderna).
Why is "was" translated as è stata instead of just using an imperfect verb like era?
Both era (imperfect) and è stata (passato prossimo) can translate to "was," but they have different feels. È stata is often used for events that are viewed as a single, completed whole in the recent past, which perfectly fits a review of today's fashion show. Notice that because la sfilata is feminine singular, the past participle stato changes to stata.
Provocatoria ends in an "-a", but why does audace end in an "-e" if they both describe the same feminine noun?
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