Breakdown of Lui ha pulito il piede senza calpestare il tappeto.
lui
he
avere
to have
pulire
to clean
senza
without
il tappeto
the rug, carpet
il piede
the foot
calpestare
to step on, to trample
Questions & Answers about Lui ha pulito il piede senza calpestare il tappeto.
Why do we use the infinitive calpestare here instead of a conjugated verb?
Because the subject is the same for both actions. 'He' cleaned his foot, and 'he' avoided stepping on the rug. When the subject doesn't change between the two actions, Italian uses senza + infinitive (an implicit clause) to express 'without doing something'.
Since the main verb is in the past (ha pulito), could we use the past infinitive (senza avere calpestato)?
No, because the two actions (cleaning and not stepping) happened at the exact same time. You use senza + present infinitive (calpestare) for simultaneous actions, even if the whole sentence takes place in the past. You would only use the past infinitive if the 'not stepping' happened before the cleaning.
Why does the sentence use il piede (the foot) instead of il suo piede (his foot)?
In Italian, you generally do not use possessive adjectives (mio, suo, etc.) with body parts when it is already obvious whose body part it is. Since the subject doing the cleaning is Lui, the definite article il is perfectly enough to mean 'his foot'.
The English translation says 'stepping on the rug'. Why isn't there a preposition like su before il tappeto?
The Italian verb calpestare (to step on, to trample) is a transitive verb. This means it connects directly to its object without needing a preposition. Therefore, calpestare il tappeto is complete on its own.
Learn Lui ha pulito il piede senza calpestare il tappeto and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free