Learn Italian: Non fa altro che rimuginare su quell'ingiustizia. - He does nothing but brood over that injustice.

Non fa altro che rimuginare su quell'ingiustizia.

He does nothing but brood over that injustice.

Breakdown of Non fa altro che rimuginare su quell'ingiustizia.

Questions & Answers about Non fa altro che rimuginare su quell'ingiustizia.

How does the non fare altro che structure work, and do I need to conjugate the second verb?

This structure expresses an exclusive, continuous, or repeated action, translating perfectly to "doing nothing but" something. You only conjugate the verb fare to match the subject (here, fa for he/she). The action verb that follows che must always remain in the present infinitive, which is why we use rimuginare.

Does the verb rimuginare always require the preposition su?

Yes, when you are stating what someone is brooding, pondering, or obsessing over, rimuginare must be followed by su. It works much like the English phrases "to ruminate on" or "to brood over".

Why do we use quell' instead of quella before ingiustizia?

Ingiustizia is a singular feminine noun starting with a vowel. Just like the definite article la becomes l', the feminine demonstrative adjective quella must drop its final -a and take an apostrophe before a vowel. This elision is mandatory for smooth pronunciation.

Could I just say lui rimugina solo su quell'ingiustizia instead?

You could, and it would be grammatically correct ("he only broods over..."). However, non fa altro che is much more emphatic. It highlights the obsessiveness of the behavior, stressing that the person is consuming all their time and energy with this single action, completely excluding everything else.