Learn Hardcore Italian: Ieri, mentre correvo, mi sono fatta male alla caviglia. - Yesterday, while I was running, I hurt my ankle.

The reflexive pronoun mi shows that the subject is both performing and receiving the action. In this case, it indicates “I hurt myself,” paralleling the English reflexive structure where the subject is affected by the verb.

Why does the past participle appear as “fatta” with an “a” instead of “fatto”?

When using the auxiliary essere with reflexive verbs in the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since the speaker is female, fatta (feminine singular) is required. For a male subject, it would be fatto.

Why is the imperfect tense used in “correvo” rather than the passato prossimo?

The imperfect tense in correvo is used to describe an ongoing or background action in the past. In this sentence, it sets the scene by showing that “while I was running” the speaker hurt herself—the running was a continuous activity occurring simultaneously with the event of getting hurt.

What role does the conjunction “mentre” play in this sentence?

Mentre translates to “while” in English and is used to introduce a subordinate clause that expresses an action happening at the same time as the main event. Here, it clarifies that the injury occurred during the act of running.

How is the phrase “alla caviglia” constructed, and why is it used?

The phrase “alla caviglia” specifies the location of the injury—meaning “to [my] ankle”. It is formed by the preposition a (indicating location) combined with the feminine definite article la, which contracts to alla, followed by caviglia. This construction is typical in Italian when referring to specific parts of the body in such expressions.