Breakdown of Se avessimo preso la scorciatoia, saremmo arrivati al ponte prima del tramonto.
avere
to have
essere
to be
prendere
to take
al
to the
se
if
noi
we
arrivare
to arrive
del
of the
il tramonto
the sunset
prima
before
il ponte
the bridge
la scorciatoia
the shortcut
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Se avessimo preso la scorciatoia, saremmo arrivati al ponte prima del tramonto.
What grammatical construction is used in avessimo preso and saremmo arrivati?
This is a past unreal (“counterfactual”) conditional in Italian. The if-clause (protasis) uses the congiuntivo trapassato (avessimo preso), and the result-clause (apodosis) uses the condizionale passato (saremmo arrivati).
Why can’t we say avremmo preso instead of avessimo preso in the “if” clause?
In Italian, when you introduce an unreal past condition with se, the protasis must be in the congiuntivo trapassato, not the condizionale. So you say se avessimo preso (subjunctive past), whereas avremmo preso would be the conditional and belongs in the main clause if you start with “we would have taken.”
Why is the verb arrivare in the result clause formed with essere (siamo/saremmo) instead of avere?
Many intransitive verbs of motion in Italian use essere as the auxiliary. Because arrivare is one of them, its compound tenses require essere. Hence saremmo arrivati rather than avremmo arrivati. Note also that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (here plural masculine, so arrivati).
Is the comma after scorciatoia mandatory?
No, it’s not strictly mandatory, but it’s customary to separate the protasis (if-clause) from the apodosis (result-clause) when the se-clause comes first. If you reverse the order, the comma often disappears:
• Saremmo arrivati al ponte prima del tramonto se avessimo preso la scorciatoia.
What does scorciatoia mean and is it a feminine noun?
Scorciatoia means shortcut. It’s a feminine noun (la scorciatoia, una scorciatoia), so any adjective referring to it must agree in feminine.
Why do we say al ponte instead of just a ponte?
In Italian, when you arrive at a place, you use arrivare a plus the definite article. Here a + il ponte contracts to al ponte.
Can we swap the two clauses without changing the meaning?
Yes. You can put the result-clause first and the if-clause second. The meaning stays the same, though you might omit the comma:
• Saremmo arrivati al ponte prima del tramonto se avessimo preso la scorciatoia.