I musicisti si sono svegliati tardi, ma si sono pettinati in fretta prima dell’intervista.

The musicians woke up late, but they quickly combed their hair before the interview.

Breakdown of I musicisti si sono svegliati tardi, ma si sono pettinati in fretta prima dell’intervista.

• ma: but
• svegliarsi: to wake up
• prima di: before
• in fretta: quickly
• tardi: late
• il musicista: the musician
• pettinarsi: to comb oneself
• l'intervista: the interview

Questions & Answers about I musicisti si sono svegliati tardi, ma si sono pettinati in fretta prima dell’intervista.

Why do we say si sono svegliati instead of hanno svegliato?

Because svegliarsi is a reflexive verb (“to wake oneself up”). Reflexive verbs in Italian:

• Take the reflexive pronoun si (which agrees with the subject)
• Use essere as the auxiliary in compound tenses
• Mean that the subject performs the action on itself
  By contrast, svegliare (non-reflexive) uses avere and means “to wake someone else.”

Why is the past participle svegliati in the plural -i form?

When you use essere (including with reflexive verbs), the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Here:

• Subject = i musicisti (masculine plural)
• Past participle of svegliarsi = svegliato
• Agreement → svegliati

Why does si sono pettinati also use essere, and why do we repeat si sono?

Pettinarsi (“to comb one’s own hair”) is also reflexive, so it follows the same pattern:

1. Place si before the auxiliary
2. Use essere
3. Agree the past participle (pettinati) with the subject
   You repeat si sono because each reflexive verb in a compound tense needs its own pronoun + auxiliary.

Could we use velocemente instead of in fretta? Is there any difference?

Both mean “quickly,” but there’s a slight nuance:

• in fretta (or di fretta) is very common in everyday, conversational Italian
• velocemente is derived from veloce and feels a bit more formal or neutral
  You can choose either based on register; they’re interchangeable in meaning.

Why do we say prima dell’intervista? Could we say prima di intervista or prima un’intervista?

The preposition prima di requires:

• di
  • the definite article when referring to a specific interview → di
    • l’ = dell’
• You cannot drop the article before a singular, specific noun.
  If you said prima di un’intervista, you’d mean “before an interview” in general rather than “before the interview” already known.

Why use ma and not però? Are they interchangeable?

Both can mean “but,” yet:

• ma is the standard coordinating conjunction for simple contrasts
• però often adds a slight emphasis or personal comment
  You could replace ma with però in this sentence without changing the basic meaning, though the rhythm and emphasis shift.

Why is the adverb tardi placed after si sono svegliati?

In Italian the usual order is:

1. Verb
2. Adverb of time/place/manner
   So si sono svegliati tardi is the default. Placing tardi before the verb (e.g. tardi si sono svegliati) is possible but more marked or poetic.

Why use the passato prossimo here and not the imperfetto? Could we say si svegliavano tardi?

• Passato prossimo describes a completed action at a specific time (“they woke up late that morning”).
• Imperfetto (e.g. si svegliavano tardi) describes habitual or ongoing past actions (“they used to wake up late regularly”).
  Because the sentence recounts a one-time sequence (they woke up, then combed their hair), passato prossimo is the correct tense.