portarono

Portarono is the passato remoto form of the Italian verb portare, meaning “they carried” or “they brought.” It is used in literary, historical, or formal writing to place actions in a distant past. In everyday spoken Italian, the passato prossimo (hanno portato) or other tenses are typically preferred.

Etymology and morphology: Portare comes from Latin portāre. Portarono is formed by adding the standard -are verb ending for third-person plural in the passato remoto: -arono. The full set of passato remoto forms for this verb includes io portai, tu portasti, lui portò, noi portammo, voi portaste, loro portarono.

Usage: The passato remoto, including portarono, is common in historical chronicles, classic novels, and epic poetry. It is rarely used in contemporary conversational Italian and is more frequent in written narrative and literary contexts across regions. In modern speech it is often replaced by the passato prossimo (hanno portato) or other past tenses.

Examples: In a historical narrative, one might read: “I soldati portarono la bandiera nel cortile.” In a narrative description: “Gli esploratori portarono notizie dalla costa.” These usages illustrate how portarono situates actions within a distant past, contrasting with present (portano) or recent past (hanno portato).

See also: Portare (Italian verb) and Italian passato remoto.