Breakdown of Il timore di sbagliare è spesso peggiore della smania di controllare tutto.
essere
to be
spesso
often
tutto
everything
di
than
Questions & Answers about Il timore di sbagliare è spesso peggiore della smania di controllare tutto.
Why do both timore and smania take the preposition di before the infinitive verbs?
Many abstract nouns that express emotions, thoughts, or mental states (like fear, hope, desire, or anxiety) require the preposition di when followed by an infinitive. Both timore (apprehension) and smania (craving) fall into this category, so they link to the verbs sbagliare and controllare using di.
In English, we say "apprehension of making" but "craving to control". Why is the Italian structure identical for both?
In Italian, you cannot use a gerund (like sbagliando) after a preposition. Whenever a noun requires a preposition to link to an action, that action must be expressed in the infinitive. Therefore, both "of making" and "to control" are handled the exact same way: di + infinitive (di sbagliare, di controllare).
Why does the sentence use della for "than the" instead of che la?
When directly comparing two nouns or pronouns in Italian, you generally use di (which combines with the definite article to make della here). You use che when comparing two verbs, two adjectives, or two nouns that are already preceded by prepositions. Since we are simply comparing noun A (il timore) with noun B (la smania), we use di + la = della.