Learn Hardcore Italian: Ieri mi sono svegliata tardi, e ho comunque preso il tram per andare al lavoro. - Yesterday I woke up late, and I still took the streetcar to go to work.

Italian reflexive verbs (like svegliarsi) always form the passato prossimo with the auxiliary essere, not avere. So you say mi sono svegliata (literally “I to myself am woken up”), never mi ho svegliato.

Why is the past participle svegliata ending in -a, and what if the speaker were male?

When you use essere as the auxiliary, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject. Here the speaker is female, so you get svegliata (feminine singular). A male speaker would say mi sono svegliato (ending in -o).

What does comunque mean here, and why use it instead of ma or però?

Comunque means “anyway,” “in any case” or “nonetheless.” It shows that despite waking up late, the speaker did something else.
• ma/però are simple conjunctions meaning “but,” often stronger opposition.
• comunque adds a nuance of concession or “regardless, I went on.”

Why is prendere conjugated with ho (avere) and not sono (essere)?

Prendere is a transitive verb (it takes a direct object: il tram). All transitive verbs in Italian use avere in the passato prossimo. So it becomes ho preso.

Why do we need the article il before tram? Can’t we say ho preso tram?

In Italian you generally need a definite article before the name of a public transport when you mean “take the tram/bus/train.” Saying ho preso tram would be ungrammatical. You must say ho preso il tram.

What is the function of per in per andare al lavoro?

Here per expresses purpose: “in order to.”
– per andare al lavoro = “to go to work.”
It links the action of taking the tram to the goal of arriving at work.

Why is it al lavoro instead of in lavoro, and how does the contraction work?

To express “to work” or “at work,” Italian uses the preposition a plus the article il, contracting to al:
• a + il = al
So al lavoro means “to the job/at work.” You cannot say in lavoro for that meaning.

Can we place ieri somewhere else in the sentence? Where else could it go?

Yes. Ieri (yesterday) is an adverb of time and can go:
• At the beginning: Ieri mi sono svegliata…
• After the verb: Mi sono svegliata ieri…
• After the object: Mi sono svegliata tardi ieri…
All are grammatically correct; initial position is most common in spoken Italian.

Is it possible to say andare in tram instead of prendere il tram? How would that change the meaning?

You can say andare in tram, but it slightly shifts focus:
• prendere il tram = emphasize the act of catching/taking the tram.
• andare in tram = emphasize the mode of transport (“to go by tram”).
Both are acceptable, but prendere is more specific about boarding the vehicle.