Breakdown of Faccio fatica a capire questa lingua.
capire
to understand
la lingua
the language
fare fatica
to struggle, to find it hard
Questions & Answers about Faccio fatica a capire questa lingua.
Why does faccio fatica mean "I struggle"? What is the literal translation?
Why is there an a before capire? Could I just say faccio fatica capire?
You need the a. The expression fare fatica strictly requires the preposition a to connect it to an infinitive verb (the base form of a verb, like capire). In Italian, many verbs and expressions require a specific preposition (usually a or di) before a following action.
Can I use the single verb faticare instead of the phrase fare fatica?
Yes, absolutely! Faticare is a regular verb that means "to struggle" or "to toil." You could rewrite this sentence as Fatico a capire questa lingua, and it means the exact same thing. Notice that faticare also requires the preposition a before the next verb.
Since this lesson is about pur + gerund, how would I add "Even though I study" to the beginning of this sentence?
You would use pur followed by the present gerund of studiare (which is studiando). The complete sentence would be: Pur studiando, faccio fatica a capire questa lingua. This is a highly natural way to express "even though" when the subject of both halves of the sentence is the same ("I").
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