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A furia di usare questo tasto, la lettera si è logorata.

A furia di usare questo tasto, la lettera si è logorata.
From using this key so much, the letter wore off.
From Lesson 453:Causal repetition (a forza di, a furia di)·Italian

Questions & Answers about A furia di usare questo tasto, la lettera si è logorata.

How does a furia di work here, and could I use a forza di instead?
Both a furia di and a forza di express an action repeated so often that it causes a specific result. They are completely interchangeable and must always be followed by an infinitive verb, like usare here. They translate roughly to "by dint of" or "from repeatedly doing".
Why is the word for "key" tasto instead of chiave?
In Italian, a chiave is a physical key used to unlock a door. A tasto refers to a pushable key or button, like those on a computer keyboard, a piano, or a remote control.
Why is the verb si è logorata instead of ha logorato?
The verb used is logorarsi, an intransitive pronominal verb meaning "to wear out" or "to wear off". Because it functions like a reflexive verb, the past tense must take essere as its auxiliary. This also means the past participle must agree with the feminine singular subject, becoming logorata to match la lettera.
In the first part of the sentence, who is the subject of usare?
Normally, implicit infinitive clauses require the subject of the main clause to be the one doing the action in the infinitive clause. Here, the subject of the main clause is la lettera, but the letter isn't the one using the key! With a furia di and a forza di, Italian allows this mismatch if the cause-and-effect relationship is obvious from context.

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