Breakdown of Spruzzare il repellente è più drastico di quanto pensassi.
essere
to be
più
more / anymore (with 'non')
di
than
pensare
to think
Questions & Answers about Spruzzare il repellente è più drastico di quanto pensassi.
Since this lesson is about the pleonastic 'non', shouldn't it be di quanto non pensassi?
You can absolutely say that! In comparisons of inequality (like più ... di quanto), Italian often adds a pleonastic (extra, untranslated) non before the verb. So, di quanto non pensassi and di quanto pensassi mean exactly the same thing. The non just adds a subtle layer of emphasis to the comparison, but it is entirely optional.
Why is pensassi in the subjunctive mood here?
In Italian, when you make a comparison of inequality using di quanto (than how much) or di quello che (than what), the following verb must be in the subjunctive. We use the imperfect subjunctive (pensassi) because the thought happened in the past, meaning 'than I was previously thinking'.
Why use di quanto for 'than' instead of just che or di?
You use di quanto when 'than' is followed by a conjugated verb that expresses an amount or degree. If you were comparing two nouns or adjectives, you would typically use che or di. Here, you are comparing the adjective drastico to the action of thinking in a clause (pensassi), so di quanto (or di quel che) is required.
Why does the sentence start with the infinitive Spruzzare instead of a gerund like in English ('Spraying')?