Question 1

Why does this use conosciuto for "met"? Shouldn't it be incontrato?

Accepted Answer

Conoscere is used when you mean "to meet someone for the first time" (to get to know them). You use incontrare when you mean "to meet up with" or "to run into" someone you already know. Since this refers to their very first meeting, conosciuto is the right choice here.

Question 2

I thought conoscere meant "to know". Why does it translate to "met"?

Accepted Answer

The meaning of conoscere shifts slightly depending on the past tense you use. In the completed past tense (passato prossimo), like ho conosciuto, it refers to the exact moment you started knowing someone, so it means "I met". If you wanted to say "I knew her" as an ongoing state in the past, you would use the descriptive past tense (imperfetto) and say la conoscevo.

Question 3

Why isn't there a la before mia moglie? I thought possessive words usually needed one.

Accepted Answer

Normally, possessives do need a definite article (like la mia macchina for "my car"). However, there is a special rule for family members: when you talk about a singular, basic family member (like moglie, padre, or sorella), you drop the article and just say mia moglie.

Question 4

Why is it l'anno scorso and not just anno scorso?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, time expressions using scorso (last) or prossimo (next) almost always require a definite article (the equivalent of "the"). So instead of just saying "last year", Italian literally says "the year last" (l'anno scorso). You will see this with other time periods too, like la settimana scorsa (last week).

Ho conosciuto mia moglie l'anno scorso.

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