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Avevamo sempre più bisogno di una connessione.

Avevamo sempre più bisogno di una connessione.
We had more and more need for a connection.
From Lesson 174:Progressive degree (sempre più, sempre meno)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Avevamo sempre più bisogno di una connessione.

How does sempre più translate to "more and more" here?
In Italian, to express a growing degree like "more and more" or "increasingly," you use the phrase sempre più (literally "always more"). In this sentence, it modifies the noun bisogno to mean "more and more need."
Why is sempre più placed right in the middle of avevamo bisogno?
The expression for "to need" is avere bisogno di (literally "to have need of"). Because bisogno is actually a noun, the quantity modifier sempre più goes immediately before it. This splits the verb from the noun, giving us avevamo sempre più bisogno.
Why use the imperfect tense avevamo instead of the passato prossimo (abbiamo avuto)?
The imperfect describes an ongoing state, feeling, or situation in the past without a specific end point. Because the need was a continuous state that was gradually increasing over time, the imperfect avevamo is the natural choice.
Why do we need the word di before una connessione?
The phrase avere bisogno must always be followed by the preposition di when you specify what is needed (whether it is a noun or an infinitive verb). It helps to think of it literally as "having a need of a connection."

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