Quando abitavo in città, sognavo spesso di avere un giardino più grande.

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Breakdown of Quando abitavo in città, sognavo spesso di avere un giardino più grande.

• avere: to have
• di: of
• in: in
• il giardino: the garden
• la città: the city
• quando: when
• spesso: often
• abitare: to live
• sognare: to dream
• più grande: bigger

Questions & Answers about Quando abitavo in città, sognavo spesso di avere un giardino più grande.

Why does the sentence use abitavo in the imperfect tense?

Because abitavo describes a repeated or continuous action in the past. The imperfect tense in Italian is often used for ongoing past situations or habitual actions.

Why is sognavo also in the imperfect?

Similarly, sognavo indicates a repeated or habitual action (dreaming often) in the past. It highlights that the dreaming happened multiple times, not just once.

What is the role of di in sognavo spesso di avere?

In Italian, di is often used before an infinitive verb when it follows certain verbs, like sognare, pensare, or credere. It acts as a connector that introduces the verb in its infinitive form (in this case, avere).

Why do we say in città rather than alla città?

When referring to living in a city, Italian uses in to indicate being inside or within a place in a general sense. Alla città would sound unnatural in this context and isn’t the standard way to say you lived in a city.

Why does the sentence say un giardino più grande instead of just un giardino grande?

The phrase un giardino più grande suggests wanting a bigger garden compared to what you had in mind before—some sense of comparison is implied. Un giardino grande would just mean a large garden, without the same comparative nuance.