Breakdown of Avevate una tartaruga in quel giardino? Ci andiamo spesso.
una
a / an (feminine)
quello
that
avere
to have
in
in / made of (material)
spesso
often
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
il giardino
the garden
ci
there (clitic)
la tartaruga
the turtle
Questions & Answers about Avevate una tartaruga in quel giardino? Ci andiamo spesso.
Why is it avevate instead of the passato prossimo avete avuto?
Avevate is the imperfect (imperfetto) form of avere for voi (you plural). We use the imperfect here because having a pet turtle in the garden describes an ongoing state or situation in the past, not a single completed event with a clear start and end. When describing what things used to be like or what people used to have, the imperfect is exactly what you need!
Why is it quel giardino and not quello giardino?
The word for "that" changes its ending depending on the noun that follows it, following the exact same pattern as the definite articles (il, lo, l', etc.). Since giardino is a masculine noun starting with a regular consonant, it would take the article il. Therefore, quello drops the "lo" and becomes quel. If the next word required lo (like zaino), you would use quello zaino.
Wait, doesn't ci usually mean "us"? Why does it mean "there" in this sentence?
You are absolutely right that ci is the direct and indirect object pronoun for "us". However, ci also acts as a location pronoun meaning "there" or "to that place". In ci andiamo (we go there), ci is used to replace a location that was already mentioned so you don't have to repeat it. Here, it stands in for in quel giardino.
Why is spesso placed after the verb rather than at the end of the English translation?
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