Breakdown of Dopo essere scesi dalla ruota panoramica, siamo andati al ristorante.
essere
to be
il ristorante
the restaurant
da
from, at (someone's place) / by (oneself), on one's own
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
a
to / at
dopo
after
scendere
to get off, to go down
la ruota
wheel
panoramico
panoramic
Questions & Answers about Dopo essere scesi dalla ruota panoramica, siamo andati al ristorante.
Why do we say dopo essere scesi instead of dopo aver sceso?
In Italian, the past infinitive is formed using the verb's normal helper verb plus the past participle. Because scendere (to go down / get off) is a verb of movement, its helper verb is essere. So to say 'after having got off', we must use essere scesi instead of avere sceso.
Why does scesi end in an 'i'?
Whenever a past tense or past infinitive uses essere as the helper verb, the past participle must agree with the subject. The second half of the sentence says siamo andati (we went), telling us the subject is 'we' (masculine or mixed plural). Therefore, sceso changes to scesi.
Why don't we just say dopo siamo scesi?
You can't put a conjugated verb directly after dopo. You would have to add che and say dopo che siamo scesi. However, because the people getting off the wheel and going to the restaurant are the exact same ('we'), Italians prefer using dopo plus the past infinitive (dopo essere scesi) for a smoother, more advanced-sounding sentence.
Why is 'getting off the' translated as scesi dalla?
What does ruota panoramica literally mean?
It literally translates to 'panoramic wheel'. This is the fun, standard Italian way to say 'Ferris wheel'!
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