Breakdown of Invece di mantenere quel vizio, mi allenavo tutti i giorni.
quello
that
il giorno
the day
tutto
all the / whole
allenarsi
to work out
mantenere
to maintain / to keep (preserve, support)
invece di
instead of
il vizio
the bad habit / the vice
Questions & Answers about Invece di mantenere quel vizio, mi allenavo tutti i giorni.
Why is the verb mantenere in the infinitive form here?
In Italian, when you use phrases like invece di (instead of) to express an alternative action, they must be followed by a verb in the infinitive (the base dictionary form). In English we often say "instead of keeping" (using the -ing form), but Italian strictly uses the infinitive after the preposition di.
Could I use anziché in this sentence instead of invece di?
Yes! You could say Anziché mantenere quel vizio... and the meaning would be exactly the same. Notice that anziché is a single word and does not take the preposition di, so it is followed directly by the infinitive mantenere.
Why is it quel vizio and not quello vizio?
The demonstrative adjective quello (that) changes its ending to match the noun that follows it, following the exact same pattern as the word for "the" (the definite article). Because you would say il vizio, quello changes to match the il pattern, becoming quel.
Why use the imperfect tense mi allenavo here instead of the passato prossimo?
The imperfect tense is used here because the sentence describes a repeated, ongoing habit in the past ("I used to train"). The phrase tutti i giorni (every day) is a major clue that this was a routine, which always triggers the imperfect tense rather than a one-time completed action.
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