Breakdown of Volevamo rifiutare la proposta, ma abbiamo dovuto accettare.
ma
but
avere
to have
volere
to want
dovere
must
accettare
to accept
rifiutare
to refuse
la proposta
the proposal
Questions & Answers about Volevamo rifiutare la proposta, ma abbiamo dovuto accettare.
Why is "volere" in the imperfetto (volevamo) but "dovere" in the passato prossimo (abbiamo dovuto)?
The imperfetto verb volevamo describes an ongoing state of mind or intention in the past. The passato prossimo verb abbiamo dovuto describes a specific, completed obligation. Mixing the two tenses perfectly captures that while the desire was ongoing, the sudden necessity to accept actually happened and ended the situation.
If we used the passato prossimo "abbiamo voluto" instead of "volevamo", how would the meaning change?
With past modal verbs, the passato prossimo implies the action was successfully carried out. Abbiamo voluto rifiutare would mean "We wanted to refuse (and we actually did refuse)." Since the second half of the sentence says we ended up accepting, we must use the imperfetto volevamo to show it was only an unfulfilled desire.
What if we used the imperfetto "dovevamo" instead of "abbiamo dovuto"?
Dovevamo accettare translates more like "we were supposed to accept" or "we had an ongoing obligation to accept," but it leaves it a mystery whether we actually did it. By using abbiamo dovuto, the speaker confirms that the obligation forced their hand and they really did complete the action of accepting the proposal.
Why do we use "avere" as the helping verb for "dovere" here (abbiamo dovuto)?
In the passato prossimo, modal verbs like dovere generally borrow the helping verb of the infinitive that follows them. Because the main action accettare (to accept) uses avere as its helping verb, the modal verb paired with it also uses avere.
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