aprì

aprì is the third-person singular form of the Italian verb aprire in the passato remoto, the literary past tense meaning "he opened" or "she opened." It is used to describe a completed action in a narrative set in the distant past and is common in literature, historical writing, and formal discourse. In everyday Italian, the passato remoto is usually replaced by the passato prossimo, especially in spoken language.

The infinitive of the verb is aprire, and aprì follows the standard passato remoto conjugation pattern for the -ire verbs of this class. Other principal parts of aprire include io aprii, tu apristi, noi aprimmo, voi apriste, and loro aprirono. The form aprì employs a grave accent on the final i to indicate the stress of the third-person singular in this tense, and the pronunciation is roughly [aˈpri].

Etymology traces aprire to Latin aperire. The passato remoto forms, including aprì, are part of a traditional Italian verbal system that survives mainly in written and formal contexts. While many Italian verbs share regular patterns in the passato remoto, the use of aprì and related forms is strongly associated with literary style and historical narration. A typical example sentence is: Lui aprì la porta e entrò nella stanza.

Summary: aprì denotes a specific past action in literary Italian, functioning as the third-person singular form of aprire in passato remoto. It reflects both a grammatical tense used in formal writing and the broader Italian verbal tradition that distinguishes narrative past tenses from everyday speech.