Breakdown of Abbiamo avuto fretta e ci siamo sbrigati.
e
and
sbrigarsi
to hurry up
avere fretta
to be in a hurry
Questions & Answers about Abbiamo avuto fretta e ci siamo sbrigati.
Why is 'we were' translated with abbiamo avuto (we have had)?
In Italian, you don't 'be' in a hurry, you 'have' a hurry using the expression avere fretta. To put this in the past tense, you use the passato prossimo of avere, which is abbiamo avuto (we have had).
Why do we use siamo in ci siamo sbrigati instead of abbiamo?
The verb for 'to hurry up' is sbrigarsi, which is a reflexive verb. In Italian, all reflexive verbs must use essere (to be) as their helper verb in the passato prossimo. Therefore, we use siamo instead of abbiamo.
Where does the ci come from in the second half of the sentence?
Why does sbrigati end with an -i?
Whenever a past tense verb uses essere as its helper (like all reflexive verbs do), the past participle has to match the gender and number of the subject. Since 'we' is plural, the ending changes from -o to -i for a group of males or a mixed group. If 'we' meant a group of only women, it would be sbrigate.
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