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Da adolescenti eravamo sempre in cortile.

Da adolescenti eravamo sempre in cortile.
As teenagers we were always in the courtyard.
From Lesson 104:The imperfect tense of to be (ero, c'era)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Da adolescenti eravamo sempre in cortile.

Why is eravamo used here instead of the passato prossimo?
Eravamo is the imperfetto (imperfect) tense of essere (to be) for "we". The imperfetto is used to describe ongoing states or repeated, habitual actions in the past. Because the sentence says we were "always" (sempre) in the courtyard as teenagers, it is a past habit, not a single completed event.
Why does da translate to "as" in da adolescenti?
In Italian, you use the preposition da followed by a stage of life or a profession to mean "as a..." or "when I was a...". So, da adolescenti means "as teenagers". You will also see this in common phrases like da bambino (as a child) or da giovane (as a young person).
Why is it just in cortile and not nel cortile?
For many common rooms or areas around a house, Italian uses the simple preposition in without combining it with a definite article (like "the"). Just like you say in cucina (in the kitchen) or in giardino (in the garden), you say in cortile (in the courtyard).
Why does adolescenti end in "-i"?
Because the subject is "we" (eravamo), the word for teenager must be plural. The singular word is adolescente. Nouns that end in -e in the singular change to -i in the plural, whether they are masculine or feminine.

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