B2 · What follows a verb
The past infinitive
« After eating » is not enough here.
Dopo aver mangiato, è uscito. English says « after eating » or « after he had eaten »; Italian hangs a participle on avere or essere and gets a past infinitive. The -e of avere nearly always drops: aver mangiato.
It stands wherever an infinitive speaks of something earlier: after dopo, after grazie per, after senza, and after per in the sense of « for having ».
The subject has to be the same as in the main clause. With two subjects it takes dopo che and a conjugated verb.
With essere the participle agrees: Dopo essere arrivata, ha chiamato. Pronouns attach at the back: dopo averlo letto, dopo essersi alzato.
Die Form
| after he had eaten | dopo aver mangiato |
| after she had arrived | dopo essere arrivata |
| thank you for answering | grazie per aver risposto |
| without having warned anybody | senza aver avvisato |
| for having lied | per aver mentito |
| after he had read it | dopo averlo letto |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
Formation: avere or essere in the infinitive plus the participle; avere usually loses its -e.
Dopo aver letto la lettera, ha pianto.After reading the letter, she cried.
After dopo it is always the past infinitive, never the simple one.
Dopo aver lavorato, ci si riposa.After work one takes a rest.
Pronouns attach to the infinitive: averlo, essersi.
Dopo essersi alzato, ha fatto colazione.After getting up, he had breakfast.
The subject is the same as in the main clause; otherwise dopo che.
Dopo che lui è partito, lei ha chiamato.After he had left, she called.
Woran man es erkennt
- dopo aver
- dopo essere
- grazie per aver
- senza aver
- per aver
Beispielsätze
Dopo aver esitato a lungo, ha firmato.After hesitating for a long time, he signed.
Grazie per aver trovato il tempo di rispondere.Thank you for finding the time to answer.
È andato via senza aver pagato.He left without having paid.
È stata punita per aver mentito.She was punished for having lied.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
English « after eating » uses its plain -ing form and says nothing about the order beyond the word « after ». Italian puts the order into the verb, and the plain infinitive will not do: dopo mangiare is heard in speech and stands at the edge of what is acceptable. In anything written it is dopo aver mangiato, and with essere the participle agrees with whoever it was.
After dopo comes aver or essere plus the participle.
Jetzt selbst
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