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  5. "Avemmo molta pioggia quel me…

"Avemmo molta pioggia quel mese."

Translation:We had a lot of rain that month.

February 5, 2015



why not: "That month we had a lot of rain"


Because SVOMPT. Subject Verb Object Mode Place Time.


Actually, "that month we had a lot of rain" is a perfectly fine English sentence (though I would insert a comma after "month").


Would it be more natural to use avemmo or avevamo here?


Italian here: We use avemmo to give a feeling that it happened more time ago than avevamo. Also the past form of avemmo is less used in north italy.


Avemmo. "Abbiamo avuto" can fit too. Avevamo is wrong because it suggests continuity, but the sentence refers to a period of time that started and ended in the past, which is why "avevamo" is wrong.


"Avevamo" can also be a right translation. It suggests that the action happened many times in the past. Sometimes English uses simple past for that, instead of, e.g. "used to have" or "would have". You need the context to decide what's the best translation.

"We had a lot of rain that month, but the harvest was good" - "Avemmo molta pioggia quel mese, ma il raccolto fu buono".

"We had a lot of rain that month and everybody used to go to the school with boots. One day it happened that..." - "Avevamo molta pioggia quel mese e tutti andavano a scuola con gli stivali. Un giorno successe che..." -


It just depends from the context.


Granted SVOMPT is the usual word order but in English the adjuncts MPT often move to the beginning of the sentance as in the example given by ruotami. Are you saying that: in Italian, in this tense, or, in this particular sentance SVOMPT must be followed?


Absolutely not. In Italian you are free to move MPT where you want. It's Duo that's quite restrictive about following the same order of words during translation.


Why not "we got a lot of rain that month"?


Wouldn´t ´much´rain instead of á lot of´be acceptable too?

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