Breakdown of Il gioiello è lì, ci stavo andando per indagare.
essere
to be
lì
there
per
for / in order to / because of
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
ci
there (clitic)
indagare
to investigate
il gioiello
the jewel
Questions & Answers about Il gioiello è lì, ci stavo andando per indagare.
How does stavo andando work to mean 'I was going'?
This is the past progressive, which describes an ongoing action in the past. It is formed by using the imperfect tense of stare (here, stavo for 'I was') and adding the gerund of the main verb (here, andando from andare).
Why is ci placed before stavo andando?
ci means 'there' (referring to the location of the jewel). Location pronouns like ci are usually placed directly before the conjugated verb, which in this past progressive structure is the helper verb stavo.
The sentence uses both lì and ci to mean 'there'. What is the difference?
Why use per before indagare?
When you want to express 'in order to do something', you use per followed by the infinitive (the dictionary form) of the verb. So, per indagare translates to 'in order to investigate' or simply 'to investigate'.
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