Breakdown of A causa della frana, il cane è rimasto intrappolato davanti alla casa.
essere
to be
la casa
the house
il cane
the dog
a
to / at
davanti
in front / ahead
rimanere
to remain, to stay behind
a causa di
due to, because of
intrappolare
to trap
la frana
the landslide
Questions & Answers about A causa della frana, il cane è rimasto intrappolato davanti alla casa.
Why use è rimasto intrappolato instead of just è stato intrappolato?
Rimanere combined with a past participle forms the resultative passive voice. While è stato intrappolato focuses on the physical action of being trapped by something, è rimasto intrappolato emphasizes the resulting state the dog was left in after the landslide occurred. It often translates to 'ended up trapped' or 'was left trapped'.
Do both rimasto and intrappolato have to agree with the subject?
Yes. In this resultative passive construction, both the past participle of the auxiliary verb (rimasto) and the past participle of the main verb (intrappolato) must agree in gender and number with the subject, il cane. If the subject were feminine, like la volpe, the phrase would change to è rimasta intrappolata.
Could I use perché instead of a causa della here?
Why do we say davanti alla casa and not just davanti la casa?
The word davanti (in front) requires the preposition a before the noun it refers to. When you combine a with the definite article la for casa, it contracts into the articulated preposition alla.
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