{"id":3247,"date":"2013-04-23T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=3247"},"modified":"2013-04-23T10:32:12","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T10:32:12","slug":"using-the-subjunctive-in-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/using-the-subjunctive-in-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"Using The Subjunctive In Italian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago I wrote a series of posts about the use of the subjunctive, and I divided the subject in four parts, each dealing with one tense: congiuntivo presente<\/font><\/strong><\/a> (present subjunctive), congiuntivo passato<\/font><\/strong><\/a> (past or perfect subjunctive), congiuntivo imperfetto<\/font><\/strong><\/a> (imperfect subjunctive) e congiuntivo trapassato<\/font><\/strong><\/a> (pluperfect subjunctive). Today we\u2019re going to look at the some practical examples of the use of the subjunctive. Click on the links above for more information about the use of the subjunctive.<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

These examples all follow the same rule: the subjunctive is used with verbs which express wishes, thoughts, beliefs, worries, and doubts, e.g.: volere<\/strong> (to want), sperare<\/strong> (to hope), pensare<\/strong> (to think), credere<\/strong> (to believe), temere<\/strong> (to be afraid), dubitare<\/strong> (to doubt), when these verbs are followed by the conjunction che<\/strong> (that).<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Here are some examples that show how the appropriate subjunctive tenses of the verb piovere <\/font><\/strong>(to rain) are used after the verb sperare <\/font><\/strong>(to hope) followed by che<\/strong> (that):<\/p>\n

Speriamo<\/font> che domenica non piova<\/font><\/strong> (present subjunctive) = let\u2019s hope that it won\u2019t rain on Sunday<\/p>\n

Speriamo<\/font> che non abbia piovuto<\/font><\/strong> (past\/perfect subjunctive) = let\u2019s hope it hasn\u2019t rained<\/p>\n

Speravamo<\/font> che non piovesse<\/font><\/strong> (imperfect subjunctive) = we hoped it wouldn\u2019t rain<\/p>\n

Speravamo<\/font> che non avesse piovuto<\/font><\/strong> (pluperfect subjunctive) = we hoped it hadn\u2019t rained<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Here are some examples that show how the appropriate subjunctive tenses of the verb partire<\/font><\/strong> (to leave) are used after the verb pensare<\/font><\/strong> (to think) followed by che<\/strong> (that):<\/p>\n

Giorgio <\/strong>pensa<\/font> che Mario parta<\/font> domani<\/strong> (present subjunctive) = Giorgio thinks that Mario is leaving tomorrow<\/p>\n

Giorgio pensa<\/font> che Mario<\/strong> sia partito<\/font> ieri<\/strong> (past\/perfect subjunctive) = Giorgio thinks that Mario left yesterday<\/p>\n

Giorgio pensava<\/font> che Mario<\/strong> partisse<\/font> domani <\/strong>(imperfect subjunctive) = Giorgio thought that Mario was leaving tomorrow<\/p>\n

Giorgio pensava<\/font> che Mario<\/strong> fosse partito<\/font> ieri<\/strong> (pluperfect subjunctive) = Giorgio thought that Mario had left yesterday<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Here are some examples that show how the appropriate subjunctive tenses of the verb riuscire <\/font><\/strong>(to succeed, to be able to) are used after the verb temere <\/font><\/strong>(to be afraid) followed by che<\/strong> (that):<\/p>\n

Temo<\/font> che Maria non riesca<\/font> ad arrivare in tempo per salutarti<\/strong> (present subjunctive) = I\u2019m afraid that Maria won\u2019t be able to arrive in time to say goodbye to you<\/p>\n

Temo<\/font> che Maria non sia riuscita<\/font> ad arrivare in tempo per salutarti<\/strong> (past\/perfect subjunctive) = I\u2019m afraid that Maria wasn\u2019t able to arrive in time to say goodbye to you<\/p>\n

Temevo<\/font> che Maria non riuscisse<\/font> ad arrivare in tempo<\/strong> per salutarti<\/strong> (imperfect subjunctive) = I was afraid that Maria wouldn\u2019t be able to arrive in time to say goodbye to you<\/p>\n

Temevo<\/font> che Maria non fosse riuscita<\/font> ad arrivare in tempo per salutarti<\/strong> (pluperfect subjunctive) = I was afraid that Maria hadn\u2019t been able to arrive in time to say goodbye to you<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

N.B. <\/strong>When both actions are carried out by the same subject (e.g. pensare<\/font> <\/strong>and partire<\/font> <\/strong>etc.) we use the preposition di<\/strong> instead of che<\/strong>, followed by the infinitive<\/strong><\/font> rather than the subjunctive<\/strong><\/font>, e.g.:<\/p>\n

Giorgio pensa<\/font><\/u> di partire<\/font><\/u> domani<\/strong> = Giorgio thinks he\u2019ll leave tomorrow<\/p>\n

Temo<\/font><\/u> di non riuscire<\/font><\/u> ad arrivare in tempo per salutarti<\/strong> = I\u2019m afraid I won\u2019t be able to get there in time to say goodbye to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several years ago I wrote a series of posts about the use of the subjunctive, and I divided the subject in four parts, each dealing with one tense: congiuntivo presente (present subjunctive), congiuntivo passato (past or perfect subjunctive), congiuntivo imperfetto (imperfect subjunctive) e congiuntivo trapassato (pluperfect subjunctive). Today we\u2019re going to look at the some…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[229338,733,229337,742,229336],"class_list":["post-3247","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-how-to-use-the-subjunctive-in-italian","tag-italian-imperfect-subjunctive","tag-italian-past-or-perfect-subjunctive","tag-italian-pluperfect-subjunctive","tag-italian-present-subjunctive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t