Breakdown of Appena ricevo una notifica, apro il sito e finisco per comprare un altro gadget inutile.
un
a / an (masculine)
una
a / an (feminine)
e
and
comprare
to buy
ricevere
to receive
aprire
to open
finire
to finish
per
for / in order to / because of
il sito
the website
altro
other, another
appena
as soon as
inutile
useless
il gadget
the gadget
la notifica
the notification
Questions & Answers about Appena ricevo una notifica, apro il sito e finisco per comprare un altro gadget inutile.
Why does this sentence use the infinitive comprare when the English translation uses the -ing form "buying"?
The Italian expression for "to end up doing something" is finire per followed by the infinitive verb (comprare). As a general rule in Italian, when a verb follows a preposition like per, di, or a, it must be in the infinitive, never the gerund form.
Why do we use the present tense ricevo right after appena (as soon as)? Doesn't appena often require the future tense?
You use the present tense here because this sentence describes a habitual action—a routine that happens over and over. You only use the future tense after appena when referring to a specific, uncompleted future event (for example, appena riceverò, meaning "As soon as I [will] receive the notification tomorrow").
A quick refresher: why is it conjugated as finisco and not just fino?
Finire belongs to the group of regular -ire verbs that insert the -isc- suffix into their stem in the present tense for all singular subjects (I, you, he/she/it) and the "they" form. So, you get io finisco, tu finisci, but it drops for noi finiamo.
Since gadget is an English word, how would I make the phrase un altro gadget inutile plural if I bought several of them?
Foreign loanwords ending in a consonant, like gadget, are invariable in Italian, meaning they don't add an "s" in the plural. You only change the surrounding words to show plurality. Since inutile is an adjective ending in -e, its plural is inutili. So, "other useless gadgets" becomes altri gadget inutili.
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