Learn Italian: Ce l'abbiamo fatta ad andarcene senza pagare il conto. - We managed to leave without paying the bill.

In Italian, when the subject of the main clause and the subordinate clause is exactly the same (in this case, 'we' managed to leave and 'we' didn't pay), you use senza followed directly by an infinitive. This is a much more natural way to express 'without doing something' than trying to conjugate the second verb.

What is the base verb for ce l'abbiamo fatta, and how does it work?

The verb is farcela, a common pronominal verb that means 'to manage', 'to succeed', or 'to make it'. It is made of fare (to do/make), ci (which becomes ce before another pronoun), and la (referring to a generic situation). When used in a past tense like the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree with the feminine pronoun la, which is why it becomes fatta regardless of who is speaking.

Why is there a 'd' at the end of ad before andarcene?

The preposition is actually just a. The verb farcela requires the preposition a when it is followed by an infinitive verb (farcela a fare qualcosa). Because the following word, andarcene, starts with the same vowel 'a', a 'd' is added for a smoother sound. This is called a euphonic D.

How do you break down all the pieces attached to the end of andarcene?