Learn Italian: Non avevo premuto bene il pulsante, perciò il flash non ha funzionato. - I hadn't pressed the button properly, so the flash didn't work.

Non avevo premuto bene il pulsante, perciò il flash non ha funzionato.

I hadn't pressed the button properly, so the flash didn't work.

Breakdown of Non avevo premuto bene il pulsante, perciò il flash non ha funzionato.

Questions & Answers about Non avevo premuto bene il pulsante, perciò il flash non ha funzionato.

Why do we use avevo premuto in the first half, but ha funzionato in the second half?

This sentence shows perfectly why we need the trapassato prossimo (pluperfect)! We use avevo premuto (I had pressed) because that action happened before the main past event. The main event was the flash failing to work, so it takes the regular passato prossimo: ha funzionato.

What verb does premuto come from?

It comes from premere (to press). Because it is a regular -ere verb, its past participle simply drops the -ere and adds -uto.

Why is bene placed right after premuto?

In Italian, adverbs like bene (well/properly) usually go immediately after the verb. In compound tenses like this one, the adverb is placed right after the past participle (premuto) and before the object (il pulsante). You wouldn't put it at the very end of the sentence like we often do in English.

What does perciò mean, and could I use quindi instead?

perciò means "for this reason", "so", or "therefore". You can absolutely use quindi instead; they mean the exact same thing here and both work perfectly to connect a cause to its result.