nasceste

Nasceste is the second-person plural form of the Italian verb nascere in the passato remoto, meaning “you were born.” It is used to describe the birth of the subjects in a past narrative context and is most commonly found in literary or historical writing.

Etymology and form: The infinitive nascere comes from Latin nasci, meaning to be born. In Italian, the passato remoto conjugation of -ere verbs features the voi form nasceste, which yields nasceste for “you (plural) were born.” The stem is nasc- with the typical passato remoto ending -este for voi.

Conjugation and related forms: The complete passato remoto conjugation of nascere includes: io nacqui, tu nascesti, egli nacque, noi nascemmo, voi nasceste, essi nacquero. The form nasceste specifically corresponds to the second-person plural subject.

Usage notes: In contemporary Italian, nasceste is rarely used in everyday speech and most commonly appears in literature, poetry, or historical narratives. In ordinary language, speakers typically convey birth in the distant past with forms of essere and nato/nati, such as siete nati, or with the imperfect nascevate to imply ongoing past duration. The passato remoto, including nasceste, is more frequent in written works that aim to evoke classical or formal registers.

See also: nascere, passato remoto, Italian grammar, verb conjugation.