Breakdown of All'improvviso, i leoni si sono messi a ruggire.
il leone
the lion
a
(linking a verb to a following infinitive)
all'improvviso
suddenly, all of a sudden (= improvvisamente)
mettersi a
to start (doing something)
ruggire
to roar
Questions & Answers about All'improvviso, i leoni si sono messi a ruggire.
Why use si sono messi a instead of just hanno cominciato a?
Mettersi a followed by an infinitive means to start doing something, but it carries a specific nuance. It implies a sudden, spontaneous, or sometimes unexpected start to an action. It pairs perfectly here with all'improvviso (suddenly). While hanno cominciato a is grammatically correct, it sounds more factual and less dramatic.
Why is the past participle messi instead of messo?
Mettersi is a reflexive verb, which means it must use essere as its auxiliary verb in the passato prossimo. When a verb uses essere, its past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since i leoni is masculine plural, the participle becomes messi.
Could I drop the a and just say si sono messi ruggire?
No, the expression is strictly mettersi a plus an infinitive. In Italian, verbs related to starting, continuing, or preparing for an action (like cominciare a, continuare a, or prepararsi a) almost always require the preposition a to connect to the following verb.
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