Breakdown of Il brevetto del prototipo è stato rubato da un concorrente.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
del
of the; than the (di + il)
rubare
to steal
il concorrente
the competitor
da
by (agent of a passive verb)
il brevetto
the patent
il prototipo
the prototype
Questions & Answers about Il brevetto del prototipo è stato rubato da un concorrente.
This lesson is about the reportative conditional. How would we change this sentence to say the patent was allegedly stolen?
To express unconfirmed information, you need the past conditional (condizionale passato). You would change the indicative passive verb è stato rubato (it was stolen) to sarebbe stato rubato (it was allegedly stolen). Journalists use this form frequently to report crimes or scandals before the facts are legally proven.
Why does this sentence use è stato rubato instead of just ha rubato?
This sentence is in the passive voice. The active version would be un concorrente ha rubato il brevetto (a competitor stole the patent). To make it passive in the passato prossimo tense, we use the auxiliary verb essere conjugated in the passato prossimo (è stato) followed by the past participle of the main verb (rubato).
Is there a specific reason we use da for "by" a competitor?
Why is "patent" translated as brevetto? Can I use the word patente instead?
Learn Il brevetto del prototipo è stato rubato da un concorrente and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free