Breakdown of Voi avevate un pappagallo, ma loro avevano qualcosa di strano.
un
a / an (masculine)
ma
but
voi
you (plural)
loro
they
strano
strange
avere
to have
di
of, from
qualcosa
something
il pappagallo
the parrot
Questions & Answers about Voi avevate un pappagallo, ma loro avevano qualcosa di strano.
Why use avevate and avevano instead of the past tense with avuto?
Avevate and avevano are in the imperfect tense. We use the imperfect here because it describes a continuing state or possession in the past, like saying 'you used to have' or 'you possessed over a period of time', rather than a single completed event.
Why is there a di in qualcosa di strano?
In Italian, when you follow indefinite pronouns like qualcosa (something) or niente (nothing) with an adjective to describe them, you must link them with the preposition di. So, 'something strange' literally becomes 'something of strange'.
Why are the pronouns Voi and loro included if Italian usually drops them?
While you can usually drop subject pronouns in Italian, they are often kept to emphasize a contrast. Here, the sentence highlights the stark difference between what you guys (voi) had and what they (loro) had.
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