Breakdown of La cena non sarà modesta, anzi, mangiamo senza pensare al conto!
essere
to be
non
not
mangiare
to eat
la cena
the dinner
senza
without
a
to / at
il conto
the bill
pensare
to think
modesto
modest
anzi
on the contrary / or rather (in fact, better yet)
Questions & Answers about La cena non sarà modesta, anzi, mangiamo senza pensare al conto!
How is anzi being used in this sentence?
Why do we switch from the future tense in sarà to the present tense in mangiamo?
While using the future tense mangeremo would be grammatically correct, Italian frequently uses the present tense for planned or highly certain future actions. Shifting to mangiamo makes the intention feel immediate, definite, and much more emphatic.
In English we say "thinking about the check." Why does the Italian use al conto?
The verb pensare, when it means directing your mind toward someone or something, requires the preposition a. Because conto is masculine singular, a combines with the definite article il to become al. It is a common trap for learners to try to use di or su to translate the English "about," but pensare a is the required structure.
Why does Italian use the infinitive pensare to translate the English gerund "thinking"?
In Italian, when a verb immediately follows a preposition like senza, per, or di, it must be in the infinitive form. While English pairs a preposition with an "-ing" verb ("without thinking"), Italian pairs it with the infinitive, giving us senza pensare.
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