Word
Quel bugiardo ha promesso che non avrebbe rubato niente.
Meaning
That liar promised that he wouldn't steal anything.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Quel bugiardo ha promesso che non avrebbe rubato niente.
non
not
quello
that
avere
to have
niente
nothing
Questions & Answers about Quel bugiardo ha promesso che non avrebbe rubato niente.
Why does Italian use the past conditional (avrebbe rubato) when English says "wouldn't steal"?
This is the classic "future in the past" rule. Because the main verb ha promesso is in the past, any action that happens after that promise must be in the past conditional. While English says "he wouldn't steal", Italian grammar essentially forces you to say "he wouldn't have stolen".
Why is there a "non" in front of the verb if the sentence uses "niente"?
Italian uses double negatives. Whenever words like niente (nothing/anything), nessuno (nobody), or mai (never) are placed after the verb, you must put non before the verb. If you started the clause with niente (e.g., niente avrebbe rubato), the non would be dropped, but that phrasing is much less common.
Why does the sentence use "quel" instead of "quello"?
The demonstrative adjective quello (that) changes its ending depending on the noun that follows it, mirroring the rules for definite articles. Since bugiardo is a masculine singular noun that takes the article il, quello drops its ending and becomes quel.
What is the infinitive of "promesso"?