Breakdown of Avevo rotto il microscopio per colpa del gatto.
il gatto
the cat
avere
to have
rompere
to break
per colpa di
because of, through the fault of
il microscopio
the microscope
Questions & Answers about Avevo rotto il microscopio per colpa del gatto.
Why is the verb avevo rotto instead of just ho rotto?
Avevo rotto is the trapassato prossimo (past perfect) tense, translating to "I had broken." It is formed using the imperfetto of the helper verb avere (avevo) plus the past participle rotto. You use this tense to describe an action that happened before another event in the past.
Is rotto an irregular past participle?
Yes! It comes from the infinitive rompere (to break). Instead of following the regular -ere pattern to end in -uto, it completely changes to the irregular form rotto.
Could I say a causa del gatto instead of per colpa del gatto?
Why is it del gatto instead of just di gatto?
The phrase per colpa di requires you to specify whose fault it is. Since you are referring to the cat (il gatto), you must combine the preposition di with the definite article il. Together, di + il merge to form the articulated preposition del.
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