Question 1

Why do we use both talmente and tanta here? Doesn't talmente already mean 'so much'?

Accepted Answer

Talmente means 'so' or 'to such an extent', and it functions as an adverb. Because ruggine (rust) is a noun, we need an adjective to indicate quantity. So we say talmente tanta ruggine (literally 'to such an extent much rust'). You could also just use così tanta ruggine (so much rust); combining talmente and tanta just strongly emphasizes the extreme degree.

Question 2

Ruggine ends in '-e'. How do I know to use the feminine tanta instead of tanto?

Accepted Answer

Ruggine is a feminine noun, which is why tanta agrees with it. As a helpful rule of thumb, Italian nouns ending in -ine (like l'abitudine, l'immagine, and la grandine) are almost always feminine.

Question 3

How could we rewrite a related idea to practice the implicit concessive clauses taught in this lesson (e.g., 'Even though rusted, we used those keys')?

Accepted Answer

To use an implicit concessive clause with a past participle, you could say: Sebbene arrugginite, abbiamo usato quelle chiavi (Even though rusted, we used those keys) or you could use Pur arrugginite. Notice how the past participle arrugginite must agree in gender and number with the feminine plural noun chiavi.

Question 4

Why does this sentence use the imperfect tense (c'era, potevamo) instead of the passato prossimo?

Accepted Answer

The imperfect is used because both verbs describe ongoing states or conditions in the past, rather than single, completed events. C'era describes the background condition of the rust being there, and non potevamo describes an ongoing inability to use the keys during that time.

Question 5

Could chiavi mean something other than door keys here, given the mention of rust?

Accepted Answer

Yes! While chiavi is the plural of chiave (door key), in a mechanical context it is also the standard word for 'wrenches' or 'spanners' (often short for chiavi inglesi). Given the heavy rust, they might very well be talking about old tools.

C'era talmente tanta ruggine che non potevamo usare quelle chiavi.

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