Breakdown of Avessimo consultato il navigatore prima!
avere
to have
prima
before, earlier
il navigatore
GPS
consultare
to consult
Questions & Answers about Avessimo consultato il navigatore prima!
Why does the sentence start directly with avessimo consultato without a word for 'if' or 'if only'?
This is an independent exclamative subjunctive. To express a strong regret or an unfulfilled wish about the past (like 'If only we had...'), Italian allows you to start the sentence directly with the past perfect subjunctive (congiuntivo trapassato). You don't actually need words like se solo or magari, though their meaning is strongly implied.
Is il navigatore the standard way to say 'the GPS' in Italian?
Yes, it is. While you might occasionally hear people say il GPS, il navigatore (short for navigatore satellitare) is the most common everyday term for a car's navigation system or a smartphone map app used for driving directions.
Why is prima placed at the very end of the sentence?
Placing prima at the end naturally emphasizes the regret about the timing. You are stressing that you should have checked it earlier, presumably before getting lost. While you could technically put it earlier in the sentence, leaving the adverb for the end gives the exclamation more emotional punch.
How do we know it means 'we' if there's no subject pronoun like noi?