Breakdown of Ha promesso che spuntava, ma ha dimenticato la promessa.
ma
but
dimenticare
to forget
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
promettere
to promise
la promessa
the promise
spuntare
to show up, to appear
Questions & Answers about Ha promesso che spuntava, ma ha dimenticato la promessa.
Why does spuntava mean "would turn up" here instead of "was turning up"?
In informal, spoken Italian, the imperfect tense (l'imperfetto) is often used to express a "future in the past"—an action that was supposed to happen after a past event. In formal Italian, you would use the past conditional here: Ha promesso che sarebbe spuntato.
Wait, wouldn't "would turn up" be translated with the present conditional (spunterebbe)?
This is a common trap! In English, "would" is used for both present hypotheticals and past promises. In standard Italian, a past promise requires the past conditional (sarebbe spuntato), never the present conditional. As we see in this sentence, everyday Italian often simplifies this tricky grammar by just using the imperfect (spuntava).
What is the literal meaning of spuntare? I usually see it translated as "to sprout".
Spuntare literally means "to emerge" or "to sprout" (and also "to tick" a box on a list). In everyday conversation, it is frequently used figuratively to mean "to show up", "to turn up", or "to unexpectedly appear", much like a sprout suddenly popping out of the ground.
Why use the passato prossimo for ha promesso and ha dimenticato alongside the imperfect?
Ha promesso (he promised) and ha dimenticato (he forgot) are completed, singular events in the past, so they take the passato prossimo. Spuntava is in the imperfect specifically to trigger the colloquial "future in the past" structure, showing what he intended to do after making that initial promise.
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