Learn Italian: La ragazza è innocente e non stava mentendo. - The girl is innocent and she was not lying.

La ragazza è innocente e non stava mentendo.

The girl is innocent and she was not lying.

Breakdown of La ragazza è innocente e non stava mentendo.

Questions & Answers about La ragazza è innocente e non stava mentendo.

How is mentendo formed from the dictionary verb?

It comes from the verb mentire (to lie). To make the gerund (the equivalent of an English "-ing" word) for verbs ending in "-ere" and "-ire", you drop that ending and add "-endo". So, mentire becomes mentendo.

Could we just say non mentiva instead of non stava mentendo?

Yes, non mentiva (using the regular imperfect tense) also works and translates to "she wasn't lying." However, using the past progressive (stava + gerund) strongly emphasizes the action happening at that exact, ongoing moment in the past.

Where does the negative word non go in a past progressive sentence?

It always goes directly before the conjugated part of the verb. Here, that is the helper verb stava, making the phrase non stava mentendo.

Since ragazza is feminine, why doesn't the adjective end in "-a" (innocenta)?

Adjectives that end in "-e" in the dictionary singular form, like innocente, are used for both masculine and feminine nouns. They do not change based on gender, but they do change to "-i" in the plural (innocenti).