Breakdown of Non stavo comprando il formaggio, anzi, ho preso il caviale e uno smoking nuovo senza pensarci.
e
and
nuovo
new
non
not
uno
a / an (masculine special)
avere
to have
comprare
to buy
prendere
to take
senza
without
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
il formaggio
the cheese
pensare
to think
ci
about it / in it (with verbs taking 'a')
anzi
on the contrary / or rather (in fact, better yet)
il caviale
the caviar
lo smoking
the tuxedo
Questions & Answers about Non stavo comprando il formaggio, anzi, ho preso il caviale e uno smoking nuovo senza pensarci.
How does anzi function in this specific sentence?
Why does the sentence switch from stavo comprando to ho preso?
Stavo comprando uses the past continuous to set a background scene of what wasn't happening in that exact moment. The speaker then switches to the passato prossimo ho preso to state a completed, definitive action that sharply contrasts with the background scene. Additionally, prendere is commonly used in everyday Italian to mean "to buy" or "to get."
Why is the article uno used before smoking, and is smoking an English word?
How exactly does senza pensarci translate to "without thinking about it"?
The preposition senza is always followed by an infinitive verb, which is pensare here. Because you think "about" something in Italian using the phrase pensare a, the pronoun ci is used to replace a plus the unspoken object. It attaches directly to the end of the infinitive after dropping the final "e".
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