Breakdown of Da avvocato, lei faceva molte domande.
lei
she
la domanda
the question
molto
a lot of / much
fare
to do / to make
da
as a (child/teenager), when one was
l'avvocato
the lawyer (m)
Questions & Answers about Da avvocato, lei faceva molte domande.
Why do we use da here to mean 'as a', rather than come?
In Italian, to express 'in the role of', 'acting as', or 'during the life stage of', you use the preposition da without an article. So da avvocato means 'in her role as a lawyer'. You will see this a lot in phrases like da bambino (as a child). If you used come, it would sound more like a comparison, as if she were acting like a lawyer but was not actually one.
Why is the verb fare (to do/make) used for 'asked'? Shouldn't it be chiedere?
Why is the verb faceva in the imperfect tense?
The imperfect tense is used for ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions in the past. Because asking many questions was a general characteristic of how she behaved in her role over time, the imperfect faceva is the perfect fit. If she had asked a specific set of questions at a singular event, we would use the passato prossimo (ha fatto).
Wait, isn't avvocato a masculine word? Does it change if lei (she) is a woman?
Avvocato was traditionally used for both men and women. Today, the feminine form avvocata is becoming much more common and is officially recognized, but you will still often hear avvocato used for women, as in this sentence. Both are correct in modern Italian, though da avvocata would also be a great choice here!
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