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Ho urtato il vaso ed era talmente fragile che si è frantumato irrimediabilmente.

Ho urtato il vaso ed era talmente fragile che si è frantumato irrimediabilmente.
I bumped into the vase and it was so fragile that it shattered irreparably.
From Lesson 357:Extreme results (così... che, talmente... che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Ho urtato il vaso ed era talmente fragile che si è frantumato irrimediabilmente.

Could I use così instead of talmente here to mean 'so fragile that'?
Yes, you can say così fragile che. Both talmente ... che and così ... che are consecutive clauses that express a result, and they are completely interchangeable. The word talmente can sometimes feel a tiny bit stronger, but they work exactly the same way in this sentence.
Why doesn't urtato have a preposition after it, like 'into' in English?
In Italian, urtare (to bump) is often used as a transitive verb, meaning it connects directly to its object without a preposition. While in English you bump 'into' the vase, in Italian you simply bump the vase (urtare il vaso).
Why is it ed era instead of e era?
The letter 'd' is added to the conjunction e (and) to make pronunciation smoother when the next word starts with a vowel, especially the same vowel. This is called a euphonic 'd', and you will also commonly see it when a (to/at) becomes ad before a vowel.
Why does the vase shattering use the reflexive si è frantumato instead of just ha frantumato?
The base verb frantumare means to smash or shatter something else. Because the vase shattered itself (it underwent the action without a direct external subject in this clause), Italian uses the reflexive form frantumarsi. In the passato prossimo tense, all reflexive verbs must use essere as their helping verb, which gives us si è frantumato.
How exactly is the long adverb irrimediabilmente formed from its adjective?
It comes from the adjective irrimediabile (irreparable). Normally you add -mente to the feminine form of an adjective to make an adverb. However, for adjectives ending in -le or -re, you must drop the final -e before adding the suffix. That is why it becomes irrimediabilmente rather than irrimediabilemente.

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