Breakdown of Il motore è pulito, quindi lo continuo a rimontare.
essere
to be
pulito
clean
lo
him/it (direct object)
continuare
to continue
quindi
therefore / so
il motore
the engine
a
(linking a verb to a following infinitive)
rimontare
to reassemble
Questions & Answers about Il motore è pulito, quindi lo continuo a rimontare.
Why is lo placed before continuo instead of attached to rimontare?
This is a great example of clitic climbing. With aspectual verbs like continuare a (to continue to), you have two options for placing object pronouns like lo. You can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb (lo continuo a rimontare) or attach it to the end of the infinitive (continuo a rimontarlo). Both are perfectly correct and mean the same thing.
Why do we need the preposition a after continuo?
The verb continuare requires the preposition a whenever it is followed by an infinitive verb to express "to continue doing something." Other aspectual verbs might use a different preposition, such as finire di (to finish doing).
Could I attach the pronoun lo to the preposition a?
No, object pronouns can never attach to prepositions like a or di. They must either attach to the end of an infinitive verb (dropping the final -e, creating rimontarlo) or stand alone before a conjugated verb (lo continuo).
What does the ri- prefix in rimontare do here?
Learn Il motore è pulito, quindi lo continuo a rimontare and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free