Litigando per ogni dettaglio, finiamo solo per perdere tempo.

Litigando is the gerund of litigare.

• litigare = to argue, to quarrel
• litigando = arguing, while arguing, by arguing

Italian often uses the gerund where English might use a clause such as:

• while arguing
• by arguing
• when we argue

So Litigando per ogni dettaglio means something like By arguing over every detail or When we argue over every detail.

This opening phrase gives the circumstance or cause of what happens in the main clause.

Structure:

• Litigando per ogni dettaglio = background action / cause
• finiamo solo per perdere tempo = main result

A very literal way to understand it is:

• By arguing over every detail, we only end up wasting time

This is a very natural Italian structure. The gerund phrase at the beginning often works like by doing..., while doing..., or when doing... in English.

Here per means over, about, or concerning.

So:

• litigare per qualcosa = to argue over/about something

Examples:

• litigare per soldi = to argue over money
• litigare per una sciocchezza = to argue over a silly thing
• litigare per ogni dettaglio = to argue over every detail

So this per belongs to the verb litigare.

Because ogni means each or every, and in Italian it is followed by a singular noun.

So you say:

• ogni dettaglio = every detail
• ogni giorno = every day
• ogni persona = every person

Even though the meaning is plural in English, the noun stays singular in Italian after ogni.

Finiamo is the 1st person plural present indicative of finire.

• finire = to finish, to end
• finiamo = we finish / we end

But in this sentence, it is part of the expression finire per + infinitive, which has a special meaning.

So here finiamo does not simply mean we finish. It means we end up.

The subject is noi = we, but Italian usually leaves the subject pronoun out because the verb ending already shows it.

Finire per + infinitive is a common Italian structure meaning:

• to end up doing something
• to wind up doing something

So:

• finiamo per perdere tempo = we end up wasting time

This structure often suggests a final result, sometimes one that is unwanted or ironic.

More examples:

• Ha finito per accettare = He ended up accepting
• Abbiamo finito per credergli = We ended up believing him
• Finiscono per rovinare tutto = They end up ruining everything

Solo means only or just.

In this sentence, it emphasizes that the only result is wasting time:

• finiamo solo per perdere tempo = we only end up wasting time
• more naturally in English: we just end up wasting time

So solo is not describing tempo by itself. It is describing the whole outcome.

Compare:

• finiamo solo per perdere tempo = the only thing that happens is that we end up wasting time
• finiamo per perdere solo tempo = we end up losing only time

That second version would shift the emphasis and sounds less natural in this context.

Because the two instances of per do different jobs.

1. litigare per ogni dettaglio
   Here per means over/about and belongs to litigare.

2. finire per perdere tempo
   Here per is part of the fixed structure finire per + infinitive, meaning to end up doing something.

So even though the same word appears twice, the grammar is different each time.

Normally, yes. In a sentence like this, the understood subject of litigando is the same as the subject of finiamo.

So the sentence is understood as:

• Noi, litigando per ogni dettaglio, finiamo solo per perdere tempo
• We, by arguing over every detail, only end up wasting time

This same-subject pattern is very common and usually the safest way to read an Italian gerund clause.

Yes. Some close alternatives are:

• Se litighiamo per ogni dettaglio, finiamo solo per perdere tempo.

  • If we argue over every detail, we only end up wasting time.

• Litigando su ogni dettaglio, finiamo solo per perdere tempo.

  • Very similar, with su instead of per.

• A furia di litigare per ogni dettaglio, finiamo solo per perdere tempo.

  • This adds the sense of through constant arguing or from arguing so much.

The original sentence is concise and natural, especially in written or reflective Italian.