Breakdown of La favola finisce con la morte del lupo.
con
with
finire
to finish
del
of the; than the (di + il)
la favola
the fairy tale
il lupo
the wolf
la morte
the death
Questions & Answers about La favola finisce con la morte del lupo.
This lesson is about past tenses. How would I change this sentence to say the fairy tale "ended" versus "was ending"?
To say it "ended" as a completed event, use the passato prossimo: La favola è finita (notice that finire uses the helper verb essere here, so the ending changes to -a to match the feminine la favola). To say it "was ending," use the imperfetto: La favola finiva.
Why is the verb conjugated as finisce instead of just "fine"?
It comes from the regular verb finire (to end). However, it belongs to a common group of -ire verbs that insert -isc- into the stem before the ending in most present tense forms. For "it ends" (third-person singular), the correct form is finisce.
Why does the sentence use del lupo instead of "di lupo"?
In Italian, you usually need the definite article (the word for "the") before a noun. "Of the wolf" translates to di (of) plus il (the) plus lupo. The preposition di naturally combines with il to make the single joined word del.
The word morte ends in "-e". How can I tell if it is masculine or feminine?
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