Il ragazzo affannato è corso a casa per il cronometro.
The breathless boy ran home for the stopwatch.
Breakdown of Il ragazzo affannato è corso a casa per il cronometro.
essere
to be
il ragazzo
the boy
la casa
the house
correre
to run
per
for / in order to / because of
a
to / at
affannato
breathless
il cronometro
the stopwatch
Questions & Answers about Il ragazzo affannato è corso a casa per il cronometro.
Why does this sentence use è corso instead of ha corso?
This highlights the core of your current lesson. Because the boy is running to a specific destination (a casa), the verb correre acts as a verb of directed motion and requires the auxiliary essere. If the sentence only described the physical activity of running without a destination, you would use avere (for example, ha corso per un'ora).
Since we used essere, does the past participle have to agree with the subject?
Why use per in per il cronometro? Does it mean he ran 'to get' the stopwatch?
Exactly. The preposition per frequently indicates purpose, a goal, or the reason behind an action. Here, it translates naturally to 'for' in English, carrying the meaning that he went to fetch or retrieve the stopwatch.
What is the root of the adjective affannato?
It comes from the noun affanno, which means breathlessness, heavy breathing, or sometimes anxiety. Turning it into the past participle/adjective affannato gives us 'breathless' or 'panting', perfectly describing someone who has just sprinted home.
Learn Il ragazzo affannato è corso a casa per il cronometro 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