Learn Italian: Pur rischiando la sconfitta, la squadra non sta crollando. - Despite risking defeat, the team is not collapsing.

Pur rischiando la sconfitta, la squadra non sta crollando.

Despite risking defeat, the team is not collapsing.

Breakdown of Pur rischiando la sconfitta, la squadra non sta crollando.

non

not

stare

to stay, to feel, to be

Questions & Answers about Pur rischiando la sconfitta, la squadra non sta crollando.

Why do we add pur before the gerund rischiando here?

In Italian, adding pur in front of a present gerund like rischiando creates an implicit concessive clause. It translates to 'even though doing something' or 'despite doing something'. Without pur, rischiando would just mean 'risking' or 'by risking', but adding it creates a strong sense of contrast.

Does pur rischiando tell us who is risking defeat?

Yes, it has to be the team (la squadra). When you use this implicit pur plus gerund structure, the subject of the gerund must be the exact same as the subject of the main sentence. Since the team is the one not collapsing, the team is also the one risking defeat.

Why are there two gerunds in this sentence, and how are their roles different?

The two gerunds are rischiando and crollando, but they do different jobs. Rischiando is paired with pur to mean 'despite risking'. Crollando is paired with sta (from the verb stare) to form the present continuous tense, meaning 'is collapsing' right now.

Could I use nonostante instead of pur to mean 'despite' here?