Learn Italian: Avevamo ripetuto le analisi chimiche in laboratorio. - We had repeated the chemical analyses in the lab.

Avevamo ripetuto le analisi chimiche in laboratorio.

We had repeated the chemical analyses in the lab.

Breakdown of Avevamo ripetuto le analisi chimiche in laboratorio.

avere

to have

in / made of (material)

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?