Breakdown of Mentre passeggiamo, all'improvviso vediamo un lampo.
un
a / an (masculine)
vedere
to see
mentre
while
passeggiare
to stroll / to walk (for pleasure)
il lampo
the lightning / the flash of lightning
all'improvviso
suddenly, all of a sudden (= improvvisamente)
Questions & Answers about Mentre passeggiamo, all'improvviso vediamo un lampo.
Why does the translation say "are strolling" when passeggiamo is just the simple present tense?
In Italian, the simple present tense can translate to both "we stroll" and "we are strolling". Because mentre (while) introduces an ongoing background action, the continuous "are strolling" sounds most natural in English. This is exactly how mentre works with the imperfetto (past continuous) for past events!
Could I use quando (when) instead of mentre (while) at the start of this sentence?
Not without changing the sentence structure. Mentre introduces the long, ongoing background action (the stroll). Quando (when) introduces the short, interrupting action (seeing the flash). You could flip the sentence and say: Passeggiamo quando all'improvviso vediamo un lampo (We are strolling when suddenly we see a lightning flash).
What makes up the phrase all'improvviso?
Why does passeggiamo keep the letter "i" from the infinitive passeggiare?
It's all about pronunciation! The infinitive is passeggiare, which has a soft "g" sound (like in "gem"). When adding the -iamo ending for "we", Italian keeps that "i" so the "g" stays soft. Without it (passeggamo), it would be pronounced with a hard "g" (like in "game").
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