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Avevo già fatto la tinta ieri mattina.

Avevo già fatto la tinta ieri mattina.
I had already dyed my hair yesterday morning.
From Lesson 373:Polite imperfect (volevo, cercavo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Avevo già fatto la tinta ieri mattina.

Why does this sentence use fare la tinta instead of a specific verb for "to dye"?
While you can use the verb tingere (to dye), Italians almost always use the idiomatic phrase fare la tinta (literally "to do the dye") when talking about coloring their hair in everyday conversation. La tinta specifically refers to hair dye.
Why use avevo fatto (past perfect) here instead of ho fatto (present perfect) if it just happened yesterday?
The trapassato prossimo (avevo fatto) is used to show that an action was completed before another past event. Even though it happened ieri mattina (yesterday morning), the speaker is emphasizing that their hair was already dyed before some other past reference point—for example, before arriving at an event last night.
Is the placement of già fixed in this sentence?
Yes, in compound tenses, common adverbs of time like già (already), ancora (yet), sempre (always), and mai (never) are almost always placed squarely between the auxiliary verb (avevo) and the past participle (fatto).
Is this an example of the "polite imperfect" (imperfetto attenuativo) taught in this lesson?
No, this sentence does not use the polite imperfect. It uses the trapassato prossimo to state a factual past event. It is likely included here to provide background context for a conversation where a polite imperfect might logically follow, such as "I had already dyed my hair, so I wanted to ask..." (volevo chiedere).

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