Word
Volevo l'acconciatura di questa foto.
Meaning
I wanted the hairstyle from this photo.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Volevo l'acconciatura di questa foto.
questo
this (masculine)
di
of, from
la foto
the photo
volere
to want
Questions & Answers about Volevo l'acconciatura di questa foto.
Why use the past tense volevo if the person is asking for the haircut right now?
This is the imperfetto attenuativo (polite imperfect). Even though the request is happening in the present, Italians often use the imperfect to soften the statement so it doesn't sound like a blunt demand. It translates roughly to 'I was wanting' or 'I was hoping to get'.
Is there a difference between using volevo and the conditional vorrei in this context?
Both are polite ways to ask for something, but they have slightly different conversational flavors. Vorrei (I would like) is the standard polite request. Volevo is very common in spoken Italian and is typically used to announce the reason you just approached someone, such as walking up to a hairdresser to state why you came in.
The English translation says 'from this photo'. Why does the Italian use di instead of da?
What is the origin of the noun acconciatura?