Breakdown of Fosse per me, non avrei comprato alcun estratto di gelsomino o resina.
essere
to be
non
not
o
or
avere
to have
di
of, from
comprare
to buy
per
for / in order to / because of
me
me
alcuno
any (in negative contexts)
l'estratto
the extract (m)
la resina
the resin
il gelsomino
the jasmine
Questions & Answers about Fosse per me, non avrei comprato alcun estratto di gelsomino o resina.
Why is alcun used here instead of nessun?
Why is it alcun estratto and not alcuno estratto?
Just like the indefinite article un, alcuno drops its final vowel before masculine singular nouns starting with a vowel (like estratto) or most normal consonants. You only use the full form alcuno before "s + consonant", "z", "gn", "pn", or "ps" (for example, non ho alcun dubbio, but non ho alcuno zaino).
Why does the sentence start with Fosse per me instead of Se fosse per me?
Dropping se (if) at the beginning of an "if clause" is a common stylistic choice in higher-level Italian, especially in fixed phrases like fosse per me (if it were up to me). The use of the imperfect subjunctive (fosse) at the very start of the sentence instantly signals the hypothetical meaning even without the word se.
What type of conditional structure is this sentence using?
It describes an impossible past scenario. Avrei comprato is the past conditional (I would have bought), showing the action already happened. While normally a past conditional pairs with a past perfect subjunctive (like se fosse stato per me), the fixed idiom fosse per me often stays in the imperfect subjunctive regardless of the timeframe.
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