Learn Italian: La macchina ha sobbalzato la volta che ho sbagliato marcia. - The car jolted the time that I got the gear wrong.

La macchina ha sobbalzato la volta che ho sbagliato marcia.

The car jolted the time that I got the gear wrong.

Breakdown of La macchina ha sobbalzato la volta che ho sbagliato marcia.

who, that (relative pronoun)

Questions & Answers about La macchina ha sobbalzato la volta che ho sbagliato marcia.

Why use che here instead of in cui or quando?

In conversational Italian, che is frequently used as a temporal relative pronoun to replace in cui (in which) or quando (when). While la volta in cui ho sbagliato marcia is grammatically stricter and preferred in formal writing, la volta che is much more natural and common in everyday speech.

Why is there no article before marcia? Shouldn't it be ho sbagliato la marcia?

You can use the article, but with the verb sbagliare, Italian often drops it to form fixed, idiomatic phrases. Just like you would say sbagliare strada (to take the wrong road) or sbagliare numero (to dial the wrong number), sbagliare marcia is the standard, natural way to say you shifted into the wrong gear.

Since sobbalzare involves movement, why does it use the auxiliary avere (ha sobbalzato) instead of essere?

While verbs that show movement from one destination to another (like andare or partire) take essere, verbs that describe a movement happening in place—like a jolt, a bounce, or trembling—usually take avere.

Could I say il tempo che instead of la volta che to mean 'the time that'?