Breakdown of Siamo rimasti nella Campania antica fino a sabato.
essere
to be
in
in / made of (material)
il sabato
Saturday
antico
ancient
rimanere
to remain, to stay behind
fino
until, up to (fino a)
la Campania
Campania
Questions & Answers about Siamo rimasti nella Campania antica fino a sabato.
Why do we use nella instead of just in before Campania?
Normally, Italian regions take the preposition in without a definite article (like in Campania). However, when a region is modified by an adjective (like antica) or a descriptive phrase, the definite article is required. Therefore, in combines with la to become nella.
Why is the auxiliary verb siamo instead of abbiamo for rimasti?
Rimanere (to stay or remain) is an intransitive verb describing a state of being or lack of motion. These types of verbs always take essere as their auxiliary in compound tenses like the passato prossimo. Because it uses essere, the ending of rimasti must also agree with the plural subject.
Could we put the adjective first and say nell'antica Campania?
Yes, both word orders are correct and both require the definite article. Placing antica after the noun (nella Campania antica) sounds more objective and classifying. Placing it before (nell'antica Campania) sounds a bit more poetic or literary.
Why doesn't sabato have an article here, like al sabato?
Days of the week don't take a definite article when you are referring to a single, specific occurrence (this past Saturday). If you used the article and said fino al sabato, it would imply a recurring habit, meaning 'until Saturdays', which doesn't make sense in this context.
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