Breakdown of Avevo regolato il flash prima della festa.
avere
to have
la festa
the party
prima di
before (doing something) / before (a noun / point in time)
regolare
to adjust
Questions & Answers about Avevo regolato il flash prima della festa.
Why use avevo regolato instead of ho regolato?
Avevo regolato is the trapassato prossimo (pluperfect) tense, meaning "I had adjusted." You use this tense to talk about a past action that happened before another past action or timeframe. Here, the adjusting happened before the party. Ho regolato (passato prossimo) would just mean "I adjusted" or "I have adjusted."
How exactly is avevo regolato built?
It is formed by combining the imperfect tense of the helper verb (either avere or essere) with the past participle of your main verb. Since regolare (to adjust) takes avere, we use avevo (I had) + regolato (adjusted).
Why does the sentence say prima della festa and not just prima la festa?
Flash is an English word! How do Italian grammar rules apply to it?