Breakdown of Gli appassionati amano questa macchina, quindi la iniziano a restaurare subito.
la macchina
the car
questa
this (feminine)
iniziare
to start
subito
immediately / right away
la
her/it (direct object)
amare
to love
quindi
therefore / so
restaurare
to restore
a
(linking a verb to a following infinitive)
l'appassionato
the enthusiast (m)
Questions & Answers about Gli appassionati amano questa macchina, quindi la iniziano a restaurare subito.
Why is the pronoun la placed before iniziano instead of at the end of restaurare?
With aspectual verbs like iniziare a (to start to), you have two choices for pronoun placement. You can attach it to the infinitive (iniziano a restaurarla) or move it before the conjugated verb (la iniziano a restaurare). This movement is called clitic climbing, and both versions are perfectly correct and mean exactly the same thing.
Why is the preposition a used between iniziano and restaurare?
In Italian, the verb iniziare requires the preposition a when it is followed by an infinitive verb. Other aspectual verbs have their own rules; for example, cominciare and continuare also take a, but finire takes di.
What exactly does appassionati mean in this context?
Appassionati is the plural past participle of the verb appassionare (to thrill or impassion). Here, it is nominalized (used as a noun) to mean enthusiasts, fans, or aficionados of a particular hobby or subject.
If this sentence were in the past tense (they started to restore it), would the past participle of iniziare need to agree with la?
Yes, but only if you move the pronoun to the front! If you use clitic climbing, the past participle must agree with the preceding direct object pronoun, giving you l'hanno iniziata a restaurare. If you leave the pronoun attached to the infinitive, there is no agreement, giving you hanno iniziato a restaurarla.
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