Breakdown of Essendo successo un imprevisto, abbiamo rimandato la riunione.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
avere
to have
la riunione
the meeting
succedere
to happen
l'imprevisto
the unexpected event (m)
rimandare
to postpone
Questions & Answers about Essendo successo un imprevisto, abbiamo rimandato la riunione.
Why is the subject "un imprevisto" placed after the verb "Essendo successo"?
Why is it "Essendo successo" and not "Avendo successo"?
Why do we use the past gerund (Essendo successo) instead of the present gerund (Succedendo)?
We use the past gerund to show that the event happened before the action in the main clause (postponing the meeting). If you used the present gerund (Succedendo un imprevisto), it would imply the event was happening at the exact same time you were postponing the meeting.
If multiple unforeseen events had happened, how would the gerund clause change?
Is this absolute gerund common in everyday spoken Italian?
It is perfectly correct, but absolute gerunds sound a bit formal and are more common in writing or careful speech. In casual conversation, an Italian would be much more likely to say Siccome è successo un imprevisto (Since an unforeseen event happened) or Visto che è successo un imprevisto (Seeing as an unforeseen event happened).
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