Breakdown of Abbiamo steso il tappetino da yoga sul balcone e abbiamo iniziato a respirare profondamente.
su
on
e
and
noi
we
iniziare
to start
stendere
to spread
a
to
il balcone
the balcony
il tappetino da yoga
the yoga mat
respirare
to breathe
profondamente
deeply
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Questions & Answers about Abbiamo steso il tappetino da yoga sul balcone e abbiamo iniziato a respirare profondamente.
What does abbiamo steso mean and what tense is it?
Abbiamo steso is the passato prossimo (present perfect) of stendere, meaning “we have laid” or simply “we laid.” It’s formed with the auxiliary avere in the present (abbiamo) plus the past participle (steso).
Why do we use the auxiliary avere with stendere instead of essere?
Most transitive verbs (those taking a direct object, here il tappetino) form compound tenses with avere. Only a limited set of intransitive or reflexive verbs use essere.
Why is it tappetino da yoga and not tappetino per yoga?
Italian often uses da to express purpose or intended use (“for doing yoga”), so tappetino da yoga literally means “mat for yoga.”
How is sul balcone formed?
Sul is the contraction of su + il (“on + the”), so sul balcone means “on the balcony.”
Why is there an a before respirare in abbiamo iniziato a respirare?
The verb iniziare requires the preposition a when it’s followed by another infinitive: iniziare a + [verb].
How is the adverb profondamente formed?
Adverbs in -mente come from the feminine adjective (here profonda). You drop the final -a and add -mente, giving profondamente (“deeply”).
Could we drop the second abbiamo in the sentence?
Yes. Since the subject and auxiliary don’t change, you can say:
Abbiamo steso il tappetino da yoga sul balcone e iniziato a respirare profondamente.
Why use the passato prossimo here instead of the imperfetto?
The passato prossimo describes specific, completed actions (“we laid the mat and started breathing”). The imperfetto would be used for habitual or ongoing background actions.