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Avevamo ripetuto le analisi chimiche in laboratorio.

Avevamo ripetuto le analisi chimiche in laboratorio.
We had repeated the chemical analyses in the lab.
From Lesson 286:Feminine nouns ending in -i (la crisi, le crisi)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Avevamo ripetuto le analisi chimiche in laboratorio.

Why does the plural noun le analisi end in -i? Shouldn't feminine plurals end in -e?
Analisi belongs to a special group of feminine nouns of Greek origin that end in -i. They are invariable, meaning their spelling doesn't change between singular and plural. You can tell it is plural here because of the feminine plural article le and the adjective chimiche. The singular is l'analisi (the analysis).
Why is there an h in chimiche?
The singular feminine adjective is chimica (chemical), which ends in a hard 'k' sound. When it becomes plural before an -e, we must insert an h to keep that hard sound (chimiche). Without it, chimice would have a soft 'ch' sound like in 'cheese'.
Since le analisi is feminine plural, why doesn't the past participle change to ripetute?
Because the helping verb is avere (avevamo). When using avere, the past participle doesn't change to match the noun that follows it. You only make it agree if the noun is replaced by a direct object pronoun before the verb (for example: Le avevamo ripetute - We had repeated them).
Why use in laboratorio instead of nel laboratorio?
Italian often drops the article for common locations when referring to their general function or simply being inside them, similar to saying 'in class' in English. You would use the combined preposition and article nel if you were specifying a particular lab, like nel laboratorio nuovo (in the new lab).
What tense is avevamo ripetuto?
It is the trapassato prossimo (past perfect), used to describe an action that someone had already done before another point in the past. It is formed by combining the imperfetto of the helping verb (here, avere becomes avevamo) with the past participle (ripetuto).

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