Log inSign up

Avevamo trovato un macchinario pesante, quindi abbiamo scattato una foto.

Avevamo trovato un macchinario pesante, quindi abbiamo scattato una foto.
We had found heavy machinery, therefore we took a picture.
From Lesson 379:Implicit concessive clauses (sebbene, pur)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Avevamo trovato un macchinario pesante, quindi abbiamo scattato una foto.

Why does the sentence use avevamo trovato in the first half but abbiamo scattato in the second?
This shows how to order events in the past. Avevamo trovato is the trapassato prossimo (pluperfect), which is used for an action that happened before another past action. Finding the machinery happened first, leading to the more recent past action of taking the picture, which is expressed with the passato prossimo (abbiamo scattato).
Why use macchinario here instead of macchina?
While macchina usually refers to a single machine or a car, macchinario refers more broadly to machinery or complex equipment. Un macchinario pesante specifically gives the idea of heavy industrial, agricultural, or construction equipment.
Why is the verb scattare used instead of prendere for taking a photo?
Direct translations often fail with idiomatic word pairings. While English speakers take a photo, Italians snap or shoot one. You must always use scattare una foto; using prendere here would sound like you are physically picking up a printed photograph from a table.
How does the plural of macchinario work?
The plural is macchinari. For masculine nouns ending in -io (like macchinario, orologio, or viaggio), if the spoken stress does not fall on the i, you simply drop the o so it ends in a single -i in the plural, rather than an awkward double -ii.

Learn Avevamo trovato un macchinario pesante, quindi abbiamo scattato una foto 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 →