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L'andamento negativo ha causato il ribasso, così si sono persi molti soldi.

L'andamento negativo ha causato il ribasso, così si sono persi molti soldi.
The negative trend caused the markdown, so a lot of money was lost.
From Lesson 399:The passive si with compound tenses (si è / si sono)·Italian

Questions & Answers about L'andamento negativo ha causato il ribasso, così si sono persi molti soldi.

Why is the verb plural in si sono persi?
This is the si passivante (passive si). The thing being lost, molti soldi, acts as the grammatical subject. Because soldi is masculine plural, the auxiliary verb must be plural (sono) and the past participle must agree (persi).
Could we use the impersonal si here and say così si è perso molti soldi?
No, that is a common mistake. When a si construction has a stated direct object like molti soldi, it functions as the si passivante. The verb and participle are forced to agree with the plural noun, so it must be si sono persi.
Why does the first clause use ha causato but the second uses sono persi?
The first clause is an active sentence where l'andamento is the subject performing the action, so it uses avere. The second clause uses the si passive construction. In Italian, all si constructions in compound tenses require the auxiliary verb essere.
How does andamento relate to the verb andare?
Andamento literally means the going or the progress of something. In financial contexts like this, it translates to trend or performance, so andamento negativo means a negative market trend.

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