Answers
Sep 16, 2015 - 07:32 AM
In these examples, there is an intervening verb (devere and potere). Those verbs take "avere," and since they come between the object and the reflexive verb, you would use "avere"
Sep 16, 2015 - 11:03 PM
Found the answer to my question in Level 5 lesson 28 at 5:37 minutes into the tutorial with a sound explanation and good examples. Thanks Fluenz!
Sep 17, 2015 - 08:11 AM
Ciao everyone,
this is actually one of the trickiest things in Italian. We talk about it all the way back in session 6 of level 4 (just in case you want a refresher). In this session we tell you that modal verbs like Volere, Potere and Dovere take Avere to form the past tense when they are followed by a reflexive verb (in the infinitive, of course) with the pronoun attached to it, like here:
Ho dovuto alzarmi presto - I had to get up early
But, if the pronoun goes before the modal verb, they take Essere to form the past tense:
Mi sono dovuto/dovuta alzare presto - I/I(f) had to get up early
As you can see, there is no difference in meaning and both are commonly used. It all depends on the placement of the pronoun. So in the examples you gave, we could say:
Non ha potuto allenarsi bene / Non si è potuto allenare bene
Ho dovuto sedermi / Mi sono dovuto sedere
As we tell you in that infamous session 6, if you want to stick to one way of saying it, that's absolutely fine. In the exercises we give you both options whenever you need to write the sentences, so you can use whichever version you prefer. The reason why we teach you both versions is that you WILL hear them and you will need to be able to understand them.
this is actually one of the trickiest things in Italian. We talk about it all the way back in session 6 of level 4 (just in case you want a refresher). In this session we tell you that modal verbs like Volere, Potere and Dovere take Avere to form the past tense when they are followed by a reflexive verb (in the infinitive, of course) with the pronoun attached to it, like here:
Ho dovuto alzarmi presto - I had to get up early
But, if the pronoun goes before the modal verb, they take Essere to form the past tense:
Mi sono dovuto/dovuta alzare presto - I/I(f) had to get up early
As you can see, there is no difference in meaning and both are commonly used. It all depends on the placement of the pronoun. So in the examples you gave, we could say:
Non ha potuto allenarsi bene / Non si è potuto allenare bene
Ho dovuto sedermi / Mi sono dovuto sedere
As we tell you in that infamous session 6, if you want to stick to one way of saying it, that's absolutely fine. In the exercises we give you both options whenever you need to write the sentences, so you can use whichever version you prefer. The reason why we teach you both versions is that you WILL hear them and you will need to be able to understand them.