Learn Italian: Ho pulito l'ingranaggio senza che nessuno me lo chiedesse. - I cleaned the gear without anyone asking me to.

Ho pulito l'ingranaggio senza che nessuno me lo chiedesse.

I cleaned the gear without anyone asking me to.

Breakdown of Ho pulito l'ingranaggio senza che nessuno me lo chiedesse.

Questions & Answers about Ho pulito l'ingranaggio senza che nessuno me lo chiedesse.

Why is chiedesse in the imperfect subjunctive here?

The conjunction senza che (without) always requires the subjunctive mood. Because the main verb is in the past (ho pulito), Italian sequence of tenses requires the imperfect subjunctive (chiedesse) to show that the "asking" belongs to the same past time frame.

Why does the sentence use nessuno (nobody) to mean "anyone"?

The word senza (without) creates a negative context in Italian. In a negative clause, Italian requires negative pronouns like nessuno rather than positive ones like qualcuno. It is exactly the same logic as needing a negative word after non.

What does the lo in me lo refer to?

Here, the direct object pronoun lo acts as a neuter pronoun representing the entire action of "cleaning the gear". While English drops this and just says "asking me to", Italian requires the pronoun to complete the verb: literally, "without anyone asking it to me". (Note that the indirect object mi changes to me when placed before lo).

Could we shorten this to an implicit clause using the infinitive, like senza chiedermelo?