Breakdown of Mi hai guardato senza sorridere.
avere
to have
guardare
to look at / to watch
senza
without
mi
me (direct object)
sorridere
to smile
Questions & Answers about Mi hai guardato senza sorridere.
English says "without smiling". Why does Italian use the infinitive sorridere instead of the gerund sorridendo?
In Italian, prepositions like senza (without) are always followed by the infinitive form of a verb, never the gerund. So, to say "without doing something", you must use senza + infinitive.
How do we know who is supposed to be doing the smiling here?
Because this is an implicit clause using an infinitive, the subject of sorridere has to be the exact same as the main verb. Since the main verb is hai guardato (you looked), we automatically know that "you" are the one who wasn't smiling.
The English translation says "looked at me". Why isn't there an Italian word for "at" in this sentence?
In English, you look at someone. In Italian, the verb guardare (to look / to watch) is a direct action. It doesn't need a preposition to connect to its object. The idea of "at" is essentially built into the verb itself, which is why it just takes the direct object pronoun mi.
I am a woman. If I say this sentence, should I change guardato to guardata?
You can, but you don't have to! Mi is a direct object pronoun. With the direct object pronouns mi, ti, ci, and vi, making the past participle match your gender and number is totally optional. If you used a third-person pronoun like la (her), however, the agreement would be mandatory (l'hai guardata).
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