Breakdown of Mia nonna faceva il tè e leggeva un racconto antico o una favola.
un
a / an (masculine)
una
a / an (feminine)
e
and
o
or
mio
my
la nonna
the grandmother
leggere
to read
il tè
the tea
fare
to do / to make
la favola
the fairy tale
antico
ancient
il racconto
the tale
Questions & Answers about Mia nonna faceva il tè e leggeva un racconto antico o una favola.
Why is it faceva instead of just dropping the -re to make "fava"?
Fare (to make/do) is an irregular verb in the imperfetto. Instead of using its modern infinitive, it uses its old Latin stem fac-. To make the imperfetto, you take that stem and add the regular endings, so for "she used to make" it becomes fac- + -eva = faceva.
Why use the imperfetto (faceva, leggeva) here instead of the passato prossimo (ha fatto, ha letto)?
The imperfetto is used for repeated, habitual actions in the past. The English translation "used to make" and "used to read" shows this was a regular habit for the grandmother. If she had made tea and read a story just once on a specific day, you would use the passato prossimo instead.
Why doesn't the sentence say La mia nonna? I thought possessives need words like "il" or "la" before them.
That is the general rule, but singular close family members are the big exception! When talking about one family member like nonna (grandmother), madre (mother), or fratello (brother), you drop the definite article and just say mia nonna.
Is leggeva also irregular in the imperfetto?
No, leggeva (used to read) is completely regular. It comes from the verb leggere. You just drop the -re to get the stem (legge-) and add the regular "she" ending for the imperfetto, which is -va.
Why is it un racconto antico instead of un antico racconto?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives like antico (ancient or old) generally go directly after the noun they are describing, rather than before it like in English.
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