Breakdown of Non avessimo imboccato quella strada! Abbiamo bucato.
non
not
quello
that
avere
to have
la strada
the street
Questions & Answers about Non avessimo imboccato quella strada! Abbiamo bucato.
Why is avessimo imboccato in the subjunctive here when there is no main clause like "I wish that" triggering it?
This is an independent exclamative subjunctive. In this sentence, the past perfect subjunctive (trapassato congiuntivo) stands alone to express a strong regret about something that already happened. It translates to "If only we hadn't" or "I wish we hadn't".
What does imboccato mean here, and how is it different from just saying preso?
Imboccare specifically means to turn into or enter a street, path, or highway. While you could say preso (taken), imboccare gives a more precise image of the moment you turn the car onto that specific road. It comes from bocca (mouth), as in entering the mouth of the street.
Does abbiamo bucato literally mean "we got a flat tire"?
Could we use the imperfect bucavamo instead of abbiamo bucato for the flat tire?
No, because getting a flat tire is a single, sudden, and completed event, which requires the passato prossimo. The imperfect would imply a continuous or ongoing action, like "we used to get flat tires" or "we were getting a flat tire", which doesn't fit the sudden nature of this mishap.