Breakdown of L'attore è diventato una celebrità per aver fatto un esordio straordinario.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
una
a / an (feminine)
avere
to have
per
for / in order to / because of
fare
to do / to make
l'attore
actor
diventare
to become
la celebrità
the celebrity
l'esordio
the debut
straordinario
extraordinary
Questions & Answers about L'attore è diventato una celebrità per aver fatto un esordio straordinario.
Why use per aver fatto instead of just saying perché ha fatto?
When the subject of both parts of the sentence is the same (the actor is the one who became a celebrity AND the one who made the debut), Italian prefers using the implicit form to express cause: per + the past infinitive. The past infinitive is formed with the infinitive of the helping verb (avere or essere) plus the past participle.
Why is the final 'e' missing from avere in aver fatto?
In the past infinitive, it is very common and sounds more natural to drop the final -e of the helping verb. So, avere fatto becomes aver fatto. You will see this happen with essere as well, becoming esser.
Why does the first part use è diventato with essere instead of avere?
The verb diventare (to become) describes a change of state. In Italian compound tenses like the passato prossimo, verbs that describe a change of state, movement, or being always take essere as their helping verb. Because it uses essere, the ending of diventato agrees with the masculine singular subject, l'attore.
I'd normally say someone 'had a debut'. Why does Italian use fatto here?
Celebrità ends in an accented vowel. How would you say 'celebrities' in the plural?
Learn L'attore è diventato una celebrità per aver fatto un esordio straordinario and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free