Word
Molta porcellana è andata dispersa sul fondale.
Meaning
A lot of porcelain went missing on the seabed.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Molta porcellana è andata dispersa sul fondale.
essere
to be
molto
a lot of / much
su
on, about
andare
to get (lost/destroyed)
Questions & Answers about Molta porcellana è andata dispersa sul fondale.
Why do we use è andata dispersa here instead of the normal passive è stata dispersa?
When expressing loss, destruction, or things going missing, Italian often uses andare instead of essere to form the passive voice. While è stata dispersa just means "was scattered" (and could imply someone did it on purpose), è andata dispersa emphasizes the unfortunate, accidental nature of the porcelain going missing.
Why are there two past participles in a row (andata dispersa), and why do they both end in -a?
The sentence is in the passato prossimo, so andare needs its own auxiliary verb, which is essere (è). Because the auxiliary is essere, the past participle of andare must agree with the feminine singular subject, molta porcellana, making it andata. Then, the main verb's past participle (disperso) also agrees with the subject because it forms the passive voice, so it becomes dispersa.
Does dispersa just mean "dispersed" or "scattered" here?
While the verb disperdere literally means "to scatter," its past participle disperso is the standard Italian term used for people or things that have gone missing, especially in accidents, natural disasters, or shipwrecks.
Why use the preposition sul rather than with ?