causarono

Causarono is the third-person plural passato remoto form of the Italian verb causare, meaning "they caused." Causare is a transitive verb that takes a direct object and expresses that an action produced a result. The infinitive is causare; the stem is caus-, and the passato remoto endings for -are verbs are -ai, -asti, -ò, -ammo, -aste, -arono. Therefore, the form for loro is causarono, yielding the full set: io causai, tu causasti, lui causò, noi causammo, voi causaste, loro causarono.

This form is primarily used in formal writing, literature, and historical narration, especially in texts that aim to convey a sense of antiquity or to present a chronological account. In spoken Italian and in contemporary writing, the passato prossimo is far more common, with the same meaning conveyed by hanno causato.

Examples in use include: "Le inondazioni causarono gravi danni" ("The floods caused serious damage") and "Nel Medioevo, la carestia causarono molte morti" ("In the Middle Ages, famine caused many deaths"). While still correct, causarono often sounds archaic or literary to modern readers, where alternatives like hanno causato are preferred for everyday communication.

Etymology-wise, causare derives from Latin causa, meaning "cause," and preserves a regular -are verb pattern in its conjugations. Overall, causarono is a standard but stylistically marked form used to narrate past events in a formal register.