Breakdown of Signora, Lei aveva un dubbio su quel documento?
un
a / an (masculine)
il documento
the document
quello
that
avere
to have
Questions & Answers about Signora, Lei aveva un dubbio su quel documento?
Why does this sentence use aveva instead of the passato prossimo ha avuto?
Aveva is the imperfetto (imperfect) tense of avere. We use the imperfetto here because having a doubt is a state of mind or an ongoing condition in the past, rather than a single, completed action with a clear start and end. When talking about how someone felt, what they knew, or what they "had" in an abstract sense, the imperfetto is usually the natural choice.
Why does formal "you" (Lei) use the "he/she" form of the verb (aveva)?
In Italian, the formal "you" (Lei) is grammatically treated exactly like the pronoun for "she" (lei). That's why it takes the third-person singular verb aveva instead of the informal "you" form avevi. The capital L in writing helps clarify that it means "you" out of respect, though in spoken Italian, you rely on the context (like starting with Signora).
The translation says "about that document", but isn't su the word for "on"?
Yes, su literally translates to "on", but it is also the standard preposition used for "about" when discussing a subject or topic. Think of it like saying "I have a question on that document" or "a book on history" in English.
Why is it quel documento and not quello documento?