Breakdown of Pur essendo stanco, il nonno ci teneva all'artigianato.
essere
to be
stanco
tired
il nonno
grandfather / grandparents (plural)
a
to / at
pur
even while / despite
tenerci
to care about / attach importance to (pronominal)
l'artigianato
craftsmanship
Questions & Answers about Pur essendo stanco, il nonno ci teneva all'artigianato.
Why is it all'artigianato and not just artigianato?
The verb tenerci (to care about something or attach importance to it) requires the preposition a before the object you care about. Since the noun is l'artigianato (craftsmanship), the preposition combines with the definite article to form the articulated preposition all'.
If we explicitly say all'artigianato, why do we still need the ci in ci teneva? Doesn't ci replace the a phrase?
That's a great observation! Normally, ci replaces an a + [topic] phrase so you don't have to repeat it. However, tenerci has become a fixed pronominal verb meaning "to care about." In everyday Italian, the ci is kept as a permanent part of the verb to distinguish its meaning from the regular verb tenere (to hold/keep), even when the object is explicitly stated right after it.
How does pur essendo stanco translate to "despite being tired"? What is pur doing here?
The word pur (a shortened form of pure) combined with a gerund (like essendo, meaning "being") is a very common way to express "even though" or "despite" in Italian. B2 learners love this structure because it means the same thing as sebbene or nonostante but lets you use a simple gerund instead of conjugating a verb in the subjunctive!
Why use the imperfect teneva instead of the passato prossimo ha tenuto?
The imperfect is used here because caring about craftsmanship describes an ongoing state of mind, an attitude, or a continuous habit the grandfather had. The passato prossimo is reserved for single, completed events with a clear beginning and end, which doesn't fit the context of a lasting passion.
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