Breakdown of Se piove, ci guardiamo un episodio dopo l'altro e ci facciamo una maratona.
un
a / an (masculine)
una
a / an (feminine)
e
and
guardare
to look at / to watch
fare
to do / to make
se
if
ci
to us
altro
other, another
piovere
to rain
dopo
after
la maratona
the marathon
l'episodio
the episode (event, incident) (m)
Questions & Answers about Se piove, ci guardiamo un episodio dopo l'altro e ci facciamo una maratona.
Why are there ci pronouns before guardiamo and facciamo?
This is the affective or ethical dative you are currently learning. The verbs are actually just guardare (to watch) and fare (to do/make). Adding ci (to/for us) adds a sense of personal indulgence, benefit, or comfort. It changes the tone from simply "we watch" to "we treat ourselves to watching" or "we enjoy watching."
Is it grammatically incorrect if I leave the ci out and just say guardiamo and facciamo?
Why do we use fare in ci facciamo una maratona instead of a verb like avere?
In Italian, you generally don't "have" an activity like a marathon, a walk, or a sleep; you "do" it. When talking about engaging in these types of prolonged experiences, fare is the natural choice. Combined with the ethical dative, farsi una maratona perfectly captures "treating oneself to a marathon."
The English translation uses the future tense ("we'll treat ourselves"), but the Italian uses the present (guardiamo, facciamo). Is this a rule for conditional sentences?
In an "if" sentence dealing with a likely scenario, Italian often uses the present tense for both the condition and the consequence, especially for informal or highly certain plans. While you absolutely can use the future tense for the result (ci guarderemo and ci faremo), using the present tense here sounds more natural and immediate in everyday spoken Italian.
Learn Se piove, ci guardiamo un episodio dopo l'altro e ci facciamo una maratona and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free