Word
Hanno trovato un tempio nella Grecia antica.
Meaning
They found a temple in ancient Greece.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hanno trovato un tempio nella Grecia antica.
un
a / an (masculine)
avere
to have
in
in / made of (material)
trovare
to find
Questions & Answers about Hanno trovato un tempio nella Grecia antica.
Why is it nella Grecia instead of just in Grecia?
Normally, singular country names take just the preposition in without a definite article (like vado in Grecia). However, when a country is modified by an adjective or a descriptive phrase, the definite article becomes mandatory. Because Grecia is modified by antica, in must combine with la to become nella.
Could we put the adjective before the noun and say nella antica Grecia?
Is there anything tricky about the plural form of tempio?
Since this is about ancient history, shouldn't we use the passato remoto instead of hanno trovato?
The temple itself is ancient, but the action of finding it (likely by modern archaeologists) is recent. You only use the passato remoto for events that happened in the distant past and have no connection to the present. If you were describing the ancient Greeks building the temple, then the passato remoto would be required.