Log inSign up

Se portavo il costume, mi travestivo anche io.

Se portavo il costume, mi travestivo anche io.
If I had brought the costume, I would have dressed up too.
From Lesson 374:Spoken hypothetical imperfect (se lo sapevo...)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Se portavo il costume, mi travestivo anche io.

Why are we using the imperfect (portavo, travestivo) for 'had brought' and 'would have dressed up'?
This is the imperfetto ipotetico (hypothetical imperfect). In everyday spoken Italian, people often swap out the complex 'if X had happened, Y would have happened' structure for the simple imperfect tense in both halves of the sentence. It makes spoken Italian much faster and easier!
How would you say this in more formal or written Italian?
You would use the standard grammar for impossible past conditions: the pluperfect subjunctive in the 'if' clause and the past conditional in the main clause. It becomes: Se avessi portato il costume, mi sarei travestito anche io.
I learned that costume means 'swimsuit'. Does it mean that here?
Not in this context. While costume (short for costume da bagno) is the standard word for a swimsuit, it also means a theatrical or fancy-dress costume. The verb travestirsi (to disguise oneself or dress up) is the clue that this is about a party, like Carnival or Halloween, not the beach.
Why is there a mi before travestivo?
Because the verb is travestirsi (to dress up / disguise oneself), which is reflexive. If you just used travestivo without the reflexive pronoun mi, it would mean you were dressing someone else up in a costume.

Learn Se portavo il costume, mi travestivo anche io 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
Start learning Italian →