Breakdown of Il gruppo deve decidere quando suonare l'assolo nel ritornello.
in
in / made of (material)
il gruppo
the group
quando
when
dovere
must
suonare
to play (an instrument)
decidere
to decide
l'assolo
the solo (m)
il ritornello
the chorus
Questions & Answers about Il gruppo deve decidere quando suonare l'assolo nel ritornello.
Why does this sentence use the infinitive suonare after quando?
This is an implicit indirect question. Just like in English ("when to play"), Italian uses a question word like quando, come, or dove followed directly by an infinitive. You can do this whenever the subject of the main verb (il gruppo) is the same as the person who will do the action in the infinitive.
How would this sentence change if I wanted to use a conjugated verb instead of the infinitive?
You would turn it into an explicit indirect question. For example, you could say Il gruppo deve decidere quando suonerà l'assolo... (when it will play) or quando deve suonare.... Using the infinitive (quando suonare) is simply a more concise and elegant choice when the subject is the same for both verbs.
Does gruppo always mean a musical "band"?
Not always; it literally means "group" and can refer to any group of people or things. However, in a musical context, il gruppo (short for il gruppo musicale) is the standard, natural way to say "the band". You might also hear Italians use the English loanword la band.
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