Breakdown of Se Lei avesse la precisione e la costanza, non avrebbe perso la potenza.
e
and
non
not
avere
to have
Lei
you (formal)
se
if
perdere
to lose, to miss
la potenza
the power
la costanza
the consistency
la precisione
the precision
Questions & Answers about Se Lei avesse la precisione e la costanza, non avrebbe perso la potenza.
Why does this sentence mix the imperfect subjunctive (avesse) with the past conditional (avrebbe perso)?
This is a mixed conditional. The se (if) clause uses the imperfect subjunctive to express an ongoing or present hypothetical trait (If you generally had precision). The main clause uses the past conditional because the result of that trait already happened in the past (you would not have lost power back then).
Why is Lei capitalized here?
Why does Italian use la before abstract concepts like precision and power, while English leaves the articles out?
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