Learn Italian: Abbiamo sempre mangiato bene qui. - We have always eaten well here.

Abbiamo sempre mangiato bene qui.

We have always eaten well here.

Breakdown of Abbiamo sempre mangiato bene qui.

Questions & Answers about Abbiamo sempre mangiato bene qui.

Why is sempre placed between abbiamo and mangiato?

In Italian, short adverbs of time and frequency like sempre (always), già (already), and mai (never) are usually placed right between the helping verb (abbiamo) and the past participle (mangiato). This happens to be exactly how it works in English, too: "We have always eaten."

Why does this sentence use bene instead of buono?

Bene means "well" (an adverb), while buono means "good" (an adjective). Because you are describing how you performed the action of eating, you must use bene. If you were describing the food itself (a noun), you would use buono, as in il cibo è buono (the food is good).

Why does "have eaten" take two words (abbiamo mangiato)?

This is a past tense called the passato prossimo. Just like in English, it is made of two parts: a helping verb (abbiamo, meaning "we have") and the past participle of the main verb (mangiato, meaning "eaten"). It is the most common past tense you will use in spoken Italian.

Where is the word for "we" in this sentence?