Breakdown of L'aquila è volata al nido.
essere
to be
a
to / at
volare
to fly
l'aquila
the eagle (f)
il nido
the nest
Questions & Answers about L'aquila è volata al nido.
Why does this sentence use è volata (essere) instead of ha volato (avere)?
This is the core rule for verbs of motion like volare (to fly), correre (to run), or saltare (to jump). When the sentence includes a specific destination—in this case, al nido (to the nest)—you must use essere because the focus is on the change of location. If the eagle were just flying around as an activity without a stated destination, you would use avere (ha volato).
Why does the past participle end in an "a" (volata)?
Words starting with l' can be masculine or feminine. How can I tell which one aquila is here?
The grammar in the rest of the sentence gives it away! Because this sentence uses the auxiliary essere, the past participle matches the subject's gender. The -a ending on volata tells you definitively that aquila is feminine.
Why do we use al nido instead of just a nido for "to the nest"?
In Italian, specific physical locations usually require the definite article. Nido takes the masculine singular article il. When you combine the preposition a (to) with il, they merge into the articulated preposition al.
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