Quel fumetto l’avevo già finito quando tu me lo hai chiesto in prestito.

I had already finished that comic when you asked to borrow it.

Breakdown of Quel fumetto l’avevo già finito quando tu me lo hai chiesto in prestito.

• tu: you
• me: me
• quando: when
• quel: that
• lo: it
• già: already
• finire: to finish
• il fumetto: the comic
• chiedere in prestito: to borrow

Questions & Answers about Quel fumetto l’avevo già finito quando tu me lo hai chiesto in prestito.

Why is the first clause using the trapassato prossimo l’avevo finito while the second clause uses the passato prossimo tu me lo hai chiesto?

Italian uses the trapassato prossimo to describe an action completed before another past action. Here, finishing the comic (l’avevo finito) happened before the moment “you asked me to borrow it” (passato prossimo: tu me lo hai chiesto).

How do you form the trapassato prossimo in Italian, and when should you use it?

Formation:

• Imperfetto of avere or essere
  • past participle of the main verb.
    e.g. avevo finito, ero andato
    Use:
• To indicate a past event that occurred prior to another past event.

Why does the sentence begin with quel fumetto and still include the clitic pronoun l’ in l’avevo finito? Isn’t that redundant?

This is called left-dislocation. You put quel fumetto at the front for emphasis or to set the topic, then you keep the clitic pronoun l’ (direct object pronoun for “it”) in the clause to maintain proper grammatical structure.

Why is the pronoun cluster me lo used in tu me lo hai chiesto, and not mi lo or lo mi?

The verb chiedere (to ask) takes two objects:

• An indirect object (a me → mi/me)
• A direct object (lo → the comic)
  In clitic-pronoun order, the indirect pronoun comes before the direct pronoun. Hence me lo.

Why is it me lo and not mi lo in me lo hai chiesto?

When two clitic pronouns combine, mi, ti, ci, and si change to their tonic forms me, te, ce, se before another pronoun. So mi lo becomes me lo.

What does in prestito mean, and can I say prendere in prestito instead of chiedere in prestito?

In prestito = “on loan” (i.e. “borrowed”).

• chiedere in prestito qualcosa a qualcuno = “to ask someone to lend you something.”
• prendere in prestito qualcosa da qualcuno = “to borrow something from someone.”
  They overlap in meaning, but chiedere emphasizes the request.

Why is già placed between the auxiliary and the past participle in l’avevo già finito, and what does it mean?

già means already. In compound tenses, it most commonly goes after the auxiliary and before the participle:

• l’avevo già finito
  You can also place it before the auxiliary for extra emphasis:
• già l’avevo finito.

Why is the subject pronoun tu included in quando tu me lo hai chiesto, since Italian usually drops subject pronouns?

Italian omits subject pronouns in most contexts, but you include them for emphasis or clarity. Here, tu highlights that you (and not someone else) asked to borrow it.

Why is the demonstrative adjective quel used for quel fumetto, and how do you choose between quel, quello, quell’, etc.?

Choice depends on the first letter of the following noun:

• quel
  • masculine singular starting with most consonants (e.g. quel fumetto)
• quello
  • masculine singular starting with z, s+consonant, gn, ps, pn
• quell’
  • any vowel (e.g. quell’amico)