Breakdown of Dopo qualche anno, chi decide di stabilizzarsi, chi continua a viaggiare.
l'anno
the year (m)
viaggiare
to travel
qualche
some / a few
continuare
to continue
Questions & Answers about Dopo qualche anno, chi decide di stabilizzarsi, chi continua a viaggiare.
How does chi ... chi ... work here to mean "some ... some ..."?
In Italian, repeating the pronoun chi is a common way to divide a group of people into contrasting subgroups, meaning "some... others..." or "one... another...". A crucial detail is that chi always takes a third-person singular verb, even though it translates to the plural "some" in English. That is why we see the singular verbs decide and continua in this sentence.
Why is it qualche anno (singular) when the translation says "a few years" (plural)?
Why is there an a between continua and viaggiare?
Certain Italian verbs require a specific preposition before a following infinitive verb. The verb continuare requires the preposition a. So, to say "continues to travel" or "continues traveling", you must write continua a viaggiare.
Why is stabilizzarsi in the reflexive form here?
The non-reflexive verb stabilizzare means "to stabilize" something else (like an economy or a patient). When referring to a person planting roots, establishing a permanent home, or "settling down", Italian uses the reflexive form stabilizzarsi, which literally translates to "stabilizing oneself".