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Mentre stavo sfogliando il testo prezioso, non ho rovinato niente.

Mentre stavo sfogliando il testo prezioso, non ho rovinato niente.
While I was leafing through the precious text, I ruined nothing.
From Lesson 165:Position of negative indefinites (nessuno, niente)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Mentre stavo sfogliando il testo prezioso, non ho rovinato niente.

Why do we need both non and niente here? Doesn't that mean "I didn't ruin nothing"?
In Italian, when negative words like niente (nothing), nessuno (nobody), or mai (never) come after the verb, you must put non before the verb. Even though it looks like a double negative, it translates as a single negative in English: "I didn't ruin anything" or "I ruined nothing".
Since the lesson is about pre-verbal vs. post-verbal syntax, could I put niente before the verb instead?
Yes, but the rule changes! If you put niente before the verb, you must drop the non. It would become Niente ho rovinato. However, the post-verbal structure used in this sentence (non ho rovinato niente) is much more common in everyday spoken Italian.
What tense is stavo sfogliando?
This is the past continuous tense, used for ongoing actions in the past, translating to "was leafing". It is made by using the imperfect tense of stare (here, stavo) plus the gerund form of the main verb (sfogliando).
Is the verb sfogliando related to leaves, just like in English?
Yes! It comes from the verb sfogliare, which means "to turn the pages" or "to leaf through". It is built from the noun foglio (sheet of paper) or foglia (leaf). So just like in English, you are literally "leafing" through the text.

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