Word
Il direttore rigoroso ha voluto vendicarsi.
Meaning
The strict director wanted to take revenge.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Il direttore rigoroso ha voluto vendicarsi.
avere
to have
il direttore
the manager / the director
volere
to want
rigoroso
strict / rigorous (exact, thorough)
Questions & Answers about Il direttore rigoroso ha voluto vendicarsi.
Why does this sentence use ha voluto (with avere) instead of è voluto (with essere) when a reflexive verb is involved?
When the reflexive pronoun si is attached to the end of the infinitive to form vendicarsi, the modal verb keeps its normal auxiliary, which is avere. If you moved the pronoun before the conjugated verb, the auxiliary would switch to essere, making it: si è voluto vendicare.
What happens to the past participle voluto if we change the sentence to the essere structure?
Because the subject Il direttore is masculine singular, voluto stays the same in si è voluto vendicare. However, if the subject were feminine, like La direttrice, it would change to match the subject because the auxiliary is now essere: La direttrice si è voluta vendicare. In our original sentence with avere, the participle doesn't change: La direttrice ha voluto vendicarsi.
Why is vendicarsi reflexive here when the English translation is just to take revenge?
Could I use severo instead of for strict?