Learn Hardcore Italian: Mi sono sbucciato il ginocchio mentre correvo nel cortile. - I scraped my knee while I was running in the courtyard.

mi is the reflexive pronoun for io (I). It shows that the subject is performing the action on themselves—“I scraped myself.” Reflexive verbs describing an action affecting your own body always require the appropriate reflexive pronoun.

Why does Mi sono sbucciato use essere as the auxiliary, and should the past participle agree in gender and number?

Because sbucciarsi is a reflexive verb. All reflexive verbs in the passato prossimo pair with essere, not avere. With essere as the auxiliary, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. A male speaker says sbucciato, while a female would say sbucciata.

Why do we say il ginocchio instead of mio ginocchio?

When using reflexive verbs (with mi/ti/si…), Italian normally puts the definite article before body parts rather than a possessive adjective. The reflexive pronoun already indicates ownership (“my knee”), so you say il ginocchio, not il mio ginocchio.

What does sbucciarsi mean exactly, and what’s a good English equivalent?

Literally sbucciare means “to peel,” but sbucciarsi here means “to scrape” or “to graze” your skin off. In English you’d say “I scraped my knee” or “I grazed my knee.”

What function does correndo serve, and could I instead say mentre stavo correndo?

correndo is the gerund of correre, meaning “running.” It expresses that the scraping happened while running. It’s a concise way to say “while I was running.” Yes—you can also say Mi sono sbucciato il ginocchio mentre stavo correndo nel cortile. It’s correct but slightly more verbose.

Why do we say nel cortile, and what does cortile mean?

nel is the contraction of in + il, used because cortile is a masculine singular noun. Italian uses in (plus article) for enclosed spaces like casa, cortile, ufficio, etc. Cortile means “courtyard” or “yard,” so nel cortile translates to “in the courtyard.”