Breakdown of Dopo che la strega ebbe bevuto la pozione, trasformò il re.
avere
to have
bere
to drink
il re
king
la strega
witch
dopo che
after (conjunction)
la pozione
the potion
trasformare
to transform
Questions & Answers about Dopo che la strega ebbe bevuto la pozione, trasformò il re.
Why use the trapassato remoto 'ebbe bevuto' here instead of the normal past perfect 'aveva bevuto'?
Because the main action trasformò is in the passato remoto, which describes a completed action in the distant past, and it is introduced by the time phrase dopo che (after). When you want to say one distant past action happened immediately before another, the earlier action requires the trapassato remoto.
Could we just use 'ebbe bevuto' on its own to say 'she had drunk' in a simple sentence?
No, the trapassato remoto is virtually never used as a standalone verb in a main clause. It acts as a supporting character, used almost exclusively in dependent clauses starting with time expressions like dopo che, appena, or non appena, simply to show an action finished right before the main passato remoto action began.
How exactly is the verb form 'ebbe bevuto' built?
It combines the passato remoto form of the auxiliary verb avere (which is ebbe for the third-person singular) with the past participle of bere, which is the irregular form bevuto.
The English translation says 'she transformed', but there is no pronoun before 'trasformò'. Why?
Learn Dopo che la strega ebbe bevuto la pozione, trasformò il re 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