Breakdown of Il braccio si è gonfiato finché non hanno rimosso il gesso.
il braccio
arm
rimuovere
to remove
il gesso
cast
gonfiarsi
to swell
finché non
until
Questions & Answers about Il braccio si è gonfiato finché non hanno rimosso il gesso.
Why is there a non in finché non if the English translation is 'until they removed', not 'until they didn't remove'?
In Italian, the phrase finché non translates to 'until' and describes an action that stops an ongoing situation. The non isn't actually negative here; it's a required part of the structure for this meaning. If you left out the non and just used finché, it would mean 'as long as,' which would strangely imply the arm swelled only during the exact time they were removing the cast.
Why does the sentence use si è gonfiato instead of ha gonfiato?
The verb used here is gonfiarsi (to swell up), which is a reflexive verb. In Italian, all reflexive verbs use essere as their helping verb in past tenses. Because it uses essere, the ending of the past participle (gonfiato) has to agree with the masculine, singular subject (il braccio).
What verb does rimosso come from, and is it irregular?
It is the past participle of rimuovere (to remove). It is irregular, but it follows the exact same pattern as its root verb muovere (to move), which becomes mosso in the past.
Who is the subject of hanno rimosso if it isn't stated in the sentence?
The subject is an unstated 'they', implying the doctors or medical staff. Italian often drops subject pronouns like loro when the context is obvious. Using the third-person plural verb (hanno rimosso) without a specific subject is a common way to express an impersonal 'they', much like saying 'until the cast was removed' in English.
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