Breakdown of Per mantenere l'efficienza, chi privilegia il silenzio, chi ascolta la musica.
ascoltare
to listen / to listen to
la musica
music
per
for / in order to / because of
il silenzio
silence
chi
whoever / the people who (the one who, those who)
mantenere
to maintain / to keep (preserve, support)
l'efficienza
efficiency
privilegiare
to favor / to prefer (give priority to)
Questions & Answers about Per mantenere l'efficienza, chi privilegia il silenzio, chi ascolta la musica.
How does 'chi ... chi' mean 'some ... some' in this sentence? I thought 'chi' meant 'who'.
While chi usually translates to 'who,' when it is repeated in a structural pattern like chi ... chi ..., it acts as a distributive correlative. This means it divides a larger group into contrasting subgroups, translating naturally to 'some [do this] ... some [do that]'.
English translates this as 'some favor' and 'some listen' (plural). Why are the Italian verbs 'privilegia' and 'ascolta' in the singular?
Why are there definite articles before 'silenzio' and 'musica' (il silenzio, la musica) when we just say 'silence' and 'music' in English?
Could I use 'alcuni' (some) instead of 'chi' here?
Yes, you could say alcuni privilegiano il silenzio, altri ascoltano la musica. However, notice that if you use alcuni ... altri, the verbs must be conjugated in the plural (privilegiano, ascoltano). The chi ... chi structure is often preferred in writing as a more elegant way to express this exact same contrast.
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