Breakdown of La carrozzeria è rovinata, ma la finisco di riparare oggi.
essere
to be
ma
but
oggi
today
finire
to finish
la
her/it (direct object)
riparare
to repair
di
to (linking a verb to a following infinitive)
rovinare
to ruin
la carrozzeria
the bodywork
Questions & Answers about La carrozzeria è rovinata, ma la finisco di riparare oggi.
Why is la placed before finisco instead of being attached to riparare?
This is a feature called clitic climbing. With aspectual verbs like finire di (to finish doing something), you have two options for pronoun placement. You can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb (la finisco di riparare) or attach it to the dropped '-e' of the infinitive (finisco di ripararla). Both are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why is there a di between finisco and riparare?
Why does the English translation use the future tense 'I will finish' if finisco is in the present tense?
In Italian, it is very common to use the present tense to talk about planned actions in the near future, as long as a time marker like oggi (today) makes the timing clear. You could absolutely use the future tense here (la finirò di riparare), but the present tense feels very conversational and natural.
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