Breakdown of Ha detto che stava riparando il finestrino proprio lì.
lì
there
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
dire
to say, to tell
riparare
to repair
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
proprio
just, exactly (intensifier)
il finestrino
the car window
Questions & Answers about Ha detto che stava riparando il finestrino proprio lì.
Why does this sentence use lì (there) if the original speaker probably said "here"?
This is a classic shift in past indirect speech! The original speaker likely said, "Lo sto riparando proprio qui" (I am repairing it right here). When you report their words in the past after ha detto che (he said that), your perspective changes. Because you are no longer in the place where the action happened, "here" (qui) must shift to "there" (lì).
Why use stava riparando (was repairing) instead of a regular past tense like ha riparato?
Stava riparando uses the imperfect of stare plus the gerund to form the past continuous tense. It shows the action was ongoing at that exact moment. In direct speech, the person likely used the present continuous: "Sto riparando..." (I am repairing...). When reported in the past, that ongoing present action shifts to an ongoing past action.
Doesn't proprio usually mean "own"? What does it mean in this sentence?
It can mean "own" (as in la propria auto, one's own car), but proprio is also a very common intensifier. When placed right before an adverb of place or time like lì, qui, or ora, it means "exactly" or "right." So, proprio lì translates to "right there" or "exactly there."
Why is the word for window finestrino instead of finestra?
In Italian, finestra is used for a window in a building, like a house or an office. Finestrino uses a diminutive ending to literally mean "little window," but it has become the specific, standard word for a vehicle window, such as on a car, train, or airplane.
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