Breakdown of L'attore fuggì all'improvviso, e i fan non ci credettero a tal punto da disperarsi.
e
and
non
not
a
to / at
l'attore
the actor (m)
credere
to believe
ci
about it / in it (with verbs taking 'a')
il punto
the point
fuggire
to flee
all'improvviso
suddenly, all of a sudden (= improvvisamente)
tale
such a / a certain
da
so ... that (with così/talmente + infinitive)
il fan
the fan
disperarsi
to despair
Questions & Answers about L'attore fuggì all'improvviso, e i fan non ci credettero a tal punto da disperarsi.
Why do we use da disperarsi instead of a phrase with che?
The phrase a tal punto da (to the point of) introduces an implicit consecutive clause. We can use this structure because the subject of both parts of the sentence is the same: the fans (i fan) are the ones who did not believe it, and they are also the ones despairing. If the subjects were different, we would have to use an explicit clause with che and a conjugated verb.
What does the ci in non ci credettero mean here?
It replaces a questa cosa (this thing/it). When credere means to believe a fact or to believe in something, it is followed by the preposition a. The pronoun ci acts as a placeholder for a plus the fact that the actor fled.
Both fuggì and credettero are in the passato remoto (historical past). Why use this tense instead of the passato prossimo?
The passato remoto is used for completed actions in the past that are psychologically or chronologically distant from the speaker. It is very common in written storytelling, literature, or historical narratives. A narrator is telling this story, so they use fuggì (fled) and credettero (believed) rather than è fuggito and hanno creduto.
Why does the infinitive disperarsi have a si attached to the end?
The verb disperarsi is used here pronominally to mean to fall into despair. Even though it is in the infinitive form because of the preposition da, it still needs to agree with the subject. The pronoun si attaches directly to the dropped final -e of the infinitive to match the third-person plural subject (i fan). If the subject were I, it would be da disperarmi.
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