Breakdown of Guardando la foto, scelgo un aggettivo diverso perché “bello” è troppo generico.
io
I
essere
to be
perché
because
guardare
to look at
Questions & Answers about Guardando la foto, scelgo un aggettivo diverso perché “bello” è troppo generico.
What is guardando here, and why doesn’t Italian use a word like when?
Guardando is the gerund of guardare. In this sentence, Guardando la foto means something like:
- while looking at the photo
- looking at the photo
- sometimes naturally in English, when I look at the photo
Italian often uses the gerund to give background information about what is happening at the same time as the main action.
So:
- Guardando la foto, scelgo... = Looking at the photo, I choose...
It is a very common structure in Italian.
Why is there a comma after Guardando la foto?
The comma separates the introductory gerund phrase from the main clause.
So the sentence has two parts:
This is similar to English:
- Looking at the photo, I choose a different adjective...
The comma helps show that the first part gives the context for the main action.
Who is doing the action in guardando? Is it the same person as scelgo?