Breakdown of Pur sorvolando il crinale, il drone è rimasto al di sopra degli alberi.
essere
to be
l'albero
the tree (m)
di
of, from
rimanere
to remain, to stay behind
pur
even while / despite
il drone
the drone
al di sopra
above
sorvolare
to fly over
il crinale
the ridge
Questions & Answers about Pur sorvolando il crinale, il drone è rimasto al di sopra degli alberi.
Why do we use degli after al di sopra in this sentence?
The complex preposition al di sopra means "above" or "higher than." Whenever it is followed by a noun, it must be linked by the preposition di. Because alberi is plural and requires the definite article gli, di and gli combine to form the articulated preposition degli.
Could I just say sopra gli alberi instead of al di sopra degli alberi?
Yes, you can. sopra gli alberi is perfectly correct and means the same thing. Adding al di before spatial prepositions like sopra or sotto is very common in written or slightly more formal Italian. It often emphasizes the physical level or altitude. Notice that if you just use sopra, you drop the di and connect directly to the article: sopra gli alberi.
What is the function of pur before the verb sorvolando?
Placing pur directly before a gerund (an "-ing" verb like sorvolando) is a concise way to express concession, meaning "despite," "even though," or "although." It tells us the main action (staying above the trees) happened despite the first action (flying over the ridge). This is a more advanced, elegant alternative to using anche se with a regular conjugated verb.
Why is the auxiliary verb è used in è rimasto instead of ha?
The verb rimanere (to stay or remain) is an intransitive verb that indicates a state of being or staying in a location. In Italian, verbs of movement, states of being, and changes of state take essere as their helper verb in compound tenses like the passato prossimo.
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