Breakdown of Non abbiamo ancora pagato la caparra.
non
not
avere
to have
pagare
to pay
ancora
yet / still
la caparra
the deposit
Questions & Answers about Non abbiamo ancora pagato la caparra.
Caparra means 'deposit', but how is it different from cauzione or anticipo?
This is an important vocabulary distinction at this level. A caparra is a binding, non-refundable deposit or earnest money—if you back out of the deal, you usually lose it. An anticipo is simply an advance payment or installment toward a total price. A cauzione is a security deposit meant to cover potential damages (like when renting an apartment), which is typically refunded to you later.
Why is ancora placed between abbiamo and pagato instead of at the end of the sentence?
In English we usually put 'yet' at the end of the sentence, but in Italian compound tenses like the passato prossimo, short adverbs of time such as ancora (yet/still), già (already), and mai (never) are almost always placed between the auxiliary verb (abbiamo) and the past participle (pagato). Putting it at the end sounds unnatural unless you are placing a very heavy, dramatic emphasis on the word.
La caparra is a feminine noun, so shouldn't the past participle be pagata?
This is a great refresher on agreement rules. When a compound tense uses the auxiliary verb avere, the past participle (here, pagato) does not agree with a direct object that comes after it. It only agrees if the direct object is replaced by a pronoun that comes before the verb. If you instead said 'We haven't paid it yet', the sentence would be Non l'abbiamo ancora pagata, because the pronoun l' (standing in for la) precedes the verb.
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