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I dati sono stati trasferiti su un altro computer.

I dati sono stati trasferiti su un altro computer.
The data were transferred to another computer.
From Lesson 430:Prepositions of means (tramite, mediante, attraverso)·Italian

Breakdown of I dati sono stati trasferiti su un altro computer.

il computer
the computer
il dato
the figure (data, statistic)
trasferire
to transfer

Questions & Answers about I dati sono stati trasferiti su un altro computer.

Why does the sentence use su for "to" instead of a?
When talking about saving, copying, or transferring digital information to a device (like a computer, hard drive, or USB), Italian uses su (literally "on" or "onto"). Saying a un altro computer would sound unnatural, as if you were physically mailing the data to the machine.
Can I add a phrase like "via a network" using the prepositions taught in this lesson?
Yes! If you want to express the means of transfer, this is the perfect place to use tramite or mediante (meaning "via" or "by means of"). For example, you could say: I dati sono stati trasferiti su un altro computer tramite una rete privata (via a private network). While attraverso could also be understood, tramite is the most natural fit for technical or abstract mediation.
sono stati trasferiti looks quite long. Can you break down this passive structure?
This is the passive voice in the passato prossimo (present perfect). To form the passive, you use the verb essere in your target tense, followed by the past participle of your main verb (trasferito). Here, the passato prossimo of essere is sono stati, and we add trasferiti at the end. Notice how both participles (stati and trasferiti) end in -i to agree with the masculine plural subject, i dati.
In English, we usually treat "data" as a singular noun (e.g., "the data was transferred"). How does Italian handle it?
In Italian, i dati is strictly plural. The singular form is il dato (meaning "the piece of data" or "the fact"), but when referring to computer data in general, you always use the plural. Because it is plural, everything else in the sentence must agree with it, which is why we use the plural auxiliary sono rather than è.

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