Prima di fare retromarcia, controllo sempre gli specchietti del camion.

It means before reversing / before backing up.

Grammatically, prima di means before, and it is followed here by an infinitive phrase:

• prima di = before
• fare retromarcia = to reverse / to back up

A very common pattern in Italian is:

• prima di + infinitive

For example:

• prima di uscire = before going out
• prima di mangiare = before eating

So prima di fare retromarcia literally means before doing reverse gear, but in natural English that becomes before reversing or before backing up.

Italian often uses fare + noun expression where English might prefer a single verb.

So:

• fare retromarcia = to reverse / to back up

This is a fixed, very common expression. Even though English uses one verb, Italian naturally uses fare plus the noun retromarcia.

You may also hear other driving expressions with fare, depending on context, but fare retromarcia is the standard expression here.

Retromarcia is a feminine noun meaning reverse gear or reversing.

In driving contexts, it can refer to:

• the gear itself
• the action of moving backward in a vehicle

So in this sentence, fare retromarcia means to put the vehicle in reverse and move backward.

Because Italian usually leaves out the subject pronoun when it is clear from the verb ending.

• controllo = I check
• io controllo = I check

The -o ending already tells you the subject is I.

Italian uses the pronoun io only when it is needed for emphasis, contrast, or clarity. So the sentence sounds natural as:

• controllo sempre... = I always check...

If you said io controllo sempre..., it would sound more emphatic, like I always check...

Yes. Controllo is the present tense of controllare, first person singular.

Here it expresses a habitual action, not something happening only right now.

So:

• controllo sempre gli specchietti del camion = I always check the truck’s mirrors

Italian present tense often covers both:

• I check
• I do check
• I am checking
  depending on context

In this sentence, because of sempre, the habitual meaning is the natural one.

That is a very natural word order in Italian.

• controllo sempre gli specchietti del camion

Literally: I check always the truck’s mirrors

In English, always usually goes before the main verb: I always check.
In Italian, adverbs like sempre often come after the verb.

Other positions are sometimes possible for emphasis, but controllo sempre is the most neutral and natural order here.

Because specchietti begins with sp-, and masculine plural nouns beginning with:

• s + consonant
• z
• ps
• gn and some others

normally take gli, not i.

So:

• singular: lo specchietto
• plural: gli specchietti

Compare:

• lo studente → gli studenti
• lo zaino → gli zaini
• lo specchietto → gli specchietti

So gli specchietti is exactly what you should expect.

In everyday Italian, specchietto is the normal word for a vehicle’s mirror, especially a side mirror or rear-view mirror.

It is the diminutive form of specchio (mirror), but in this context it does not necessarily sound especially cute or small. It is just the usual word people use for car or truck mirrors.

So:

• specchio = mirror in general
• specchietto = vehicle mirror

In this sentence, gli specchietti del camion means the truck’s mirrors.

Del is the contraction of:

• di + il = del

Here di shows possession or association, like of the in English.

So:

• gli specchietti del camion = the mirrors of the truck
• natural English: the truck’s mirrors

This is a very common Italian structure:

• la porta della macchina = the car door
• il motore del camion = the truck’s engine

Yes, camion is masculine:

• il camion = the truck

And it is normally invariable, meaning it stays the same in the plural:

• il camion = the truck
• i camion = the trucks

So Italian does not usually add an ending to make it plural.

The comma separates the introductory phrase from the main clause:

• Prima di fare retromarcia, = before reversing,
• controllo sempre gli specchietti del camion. = I always check the truck’s mirrors.

This kind of comma is very common when a sentence begins with a longer time or condition phrase. It helps readability.

You may sometimes see Italian with lighter punctuation in informal writing, but this comma is perfectly normal and clear.

Yes, you may see that, especially in less formal writing, and it would still be understood.

However, with an introductory phrase like Prima di fare retromarcia, the comma is helpful and stylistically very natural. So the version with the comma is a good model to follow.

Yes. Controllare is a very natural verb here.

In this sentence it means something like:

• to check
• to look at carefully
• to make sure about

So controllo sempre gli specchietti del camion means you make sure the mirrors are giving you the information you need before reversing.

In driving contexts, controllare is extremely common and idiomatic.