Italian subjunctive (summary)
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The tenses belonging to the modo congiuntivo (subjunctive mood) express actions, placed in dependent and secondary clauses, related to opinions, desires, wishes, needs, and so on.
There are four different tenses in the Italian subjunctive:
- present (congiuntivo presente);
- imperfect (congiuntivo imperfetto);
- present perfect (congiuntivo passato);
- past perfect (congiuntivo trapassato).
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.Conjugation of the Italian subjunctive
- 1.1.Italian present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
- 1.2.Italian imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo perfetto)
- 1.3.Italian present perfect subjunctive (congiuntivo passato)
- 1.4.Italian past perfect subjunctive (congiuntivo trapassato)
- 2.Use of the Italian subjunctive
Conjugation of the Italian subjunctive
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Italian present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
An interesting pattern to take into notice is the vowel switch which takes place in conjugation: verbs from the I conjugation use i in their endings, whereas those from the II and the III use a.
| parlare, "to talk" | vendere, "to sell" | scrivere, "to write" | |
|---|---|---|---|
| che io | parli | venda | scriva |
| che tu | parli | venda | scriva |
| che lui | parli | venda | scriva |
| che noi | parliamo | vendiamo | scriviamo |
| che voi | parliate | vendiate | scriviate |
| che loro | parlino | vendano | scrivano |
Still, there are many irregular verb conjugations worth paying attention to:
| dire | fare | potere | sedere | uscire | venire | volere |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dica | faccia | possa | sieda | esca | venga | voglia |
| dica | faccia | possa | sieda | esca | venga | voglia |
| dica | faccia | possa | sieda | esca | venga | voglia |
| diciamo | facciamo | possiamo | sediamo | usciamo | veniamo | vogliamo |
| diciate | facciate | possiate | sediate | usciate | veniate | vogliate |
| dicano | facciano | possano | siedano | escano | vengano | vogliano |
Italian imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo perfetto)
The imperfect subjunctive is formed through substitution of the endings of the imperfect indicative with the following ones:
| parlare,"to talk" | vendere, "to sell" | scrivere, "to write" | |
|---|---|---|---|
| che io | parlassi | vendessi | scrivessi |
| che tu | parlassi | vendessi | scrivessi |
| che lui | parlasse | vendesse | scrivesse |
| che noi | parlassimo | vendessimo | scrivessimo |
| che voi | parlaste | vendeste | scriveste |
| che loro | parlassero | vendessero | scrivessero |
Italian present perfect subjunctive (congiuntivo passato)
Unlike the previous two tenses, the present perfect subjunctive (congiuntivo passato) is a compound verb.
The conjugated forms of essere and avere (for intransitive and transitive verbs respectively) preceed the past participle form of the base verb.
| parlare, "to talk" (transitive) | uscire, "to go out" (intransitive) | |
|---|---|---|
| che io | abbia parlato | sia uscito |
| che tu | abbia parlato | sia uscito |
| che lui | abbia parlato | sia uscito |
| che noi | abbiamo parlato | siamo usciti |
| che voi | abbiate parlato | siate usciti |
| che loro | abbiano parlato | siano usciti |
Italian past perfect subjunctive (congiuntivo trapassato)
The congiuntivo trapassato is also a compound verb.
It follows the very same set of the rules as the previous tense, with the auxiliary essere or avere conjugated differently.
| parlare, "to talk" (transitive) | uscire, "to go out" (intransitive) | |
|---|---|---|
| che io | avessi parlato | fossi uscito |
| che tu | avessi parlato | fossi uscito |
| che lui | avesse parlato | fosse uscito |
| che noi | avessimo parlato | fossimo usciti |
| che voi | aveste parlato | foste usciti |
| che loro | avessero parlato | fossero usciti |
Use of the Italian subjunctive
The subjunctive has many functions in Italian, as it introduces subordinate clauses which integrate the sentence as either the subject or the object of the main verb.
Most of the time - but not always - subordinate sentences in Italian are introduced by the conjunction che.
Here some of the main uses for the subjunctive in Italian:
- imposition of will and necessity;
| IT | EN |
|---|---|
| È necessario che tu faccia di più per rimanere in questa compagnia. | It is necessary that you do more in order to stay in this firm. |
| Volevamo che parlaste di altri argomenti durante la conferenza. | We wanted you to discuss something else during the conference. |
| Ci aspettiamo che entro settembre tu abbia fatto progressi. | We expect you to have made some progress by September. |
| È possibile che avesse già capito il problema tempo fa. | It is possible that he had already understood the problem some time ago. |
- emotion and opinion;
| IT | EN |
|---|---|
| A loro piace che il caffè sia ben caldo. | They like the coffee to be well warm. |
| Speravo che veniste alla festa. | I was hoping you would come to the party. |
| Sono felice che tu abbia superato l'esame. | I am glad you have passed the exam. |
| Il fatto che fossero riusciti in quell'impresa rese la città orgogliosa. | The fact that they succeeded in that effort made the city proud. |
- doubt and negation;
| IT | EN |
|---|---|
| Non credo che Giancarlo possa aiutarci. | I don't think Giancarlo could help us. |
| Non era vero che Veronica avesse paura di trasferirsi all'estero. | It's not true that Veronica was afraid to move abroad. |
| Supponiamo che Andrea abbia trascorso la settimana viaggiando. | We suppose Andrea has spent the whole week travelling. |
| Gli è sembrato che la pasta non fosse cotta abbastanza. | It seemed to him that the pasta was not cooked enough. |
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Why should you choose me? Take a look at what people say who have taken online classes with me.
Book lessons with me and
- prepare Dutch exams "Basisinburgering A1" and "Inburgeringsexamen A2". Your full commitment and my energetic, professional approach are the winning combination to help you succeed at once!
- learn Dutch because you live in the Netherlands (or are planning to move there) and still don’t speak the language properly or haven’t started yet. You’ll enjoy your environment more!
- learn Italian for work or because you will move to this beautiful country or simply because you just love it. Let me help you experience the language!
- study Spanish for pleasure, work or because you have to prepare an exam for school and you need to get confident to perform optimally
- get confident in useful daily conversations, meetings at work, exams, and presentations
- overcome the fear of failure; if you have learning problems, feel shy or need a boost of energy you’ll get confident enough to achieve your goals
My lessons are based on conversations. My method is to help you practice the language from the very beginning in spontaneous and direct conversations, using often role plays.
With books, articles, songs, and other interesting and stimulating material I will encourage conversation, develop grammar in a simpler way, and improve pronunciation.
Learning a foreign language is not a matter of doing much effort, but rather of being consistent, enjoying the lessons and allowing your intuition to work with you. You will book immediate results while having fun!
I've been teaching Dutch, Spanish and Italian for many years, in The Netherlands, for private institutes, for the integration of foreigners into society (Inburgering), and online from Italy, where I currently live.
Contact me for a free trial and let me know how I can help you.
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If you cancel a reservation please do it at least 24 hours before the session
(otherwise I would have to charge you for the lesson).
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My name is Luisa and I teach Italian for foreign students, English, French and German for Italian students
Since 1994, I have dedicated myself to translating and teaching thanks to my travels, abroad studies, foreign reading and writing. I provide fun and customized lessons based on the student's goals. I also triy to minimize English speaking during the lessons. I give homework exercises, and my lessons are intermixed with grammar, conversation, customs and traditions. My goal is to make certain that each student finds learning Italian exciting.
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Dear Janice thank you !!!! thank you so much !!!
Hi!
My name is Mariateresa, I'm Italian and I teach English, Italian and Spanish to foreign students.
Having lived in Spain during my last year at University, I moved to the UK, where I lived for the next five years. My English at that time was quite poor and I made a living by doing various jobs.
One day, inspired by my amazing English teacher Mandy, I had an idea: why not teach my native language and Spanish to English people and other nationalities? You wouldn’t believe how fascinated people are by these languages!
It was in 2017 when I fell in love with this job. So much so that one year later I successfully attained a TESOL Certificate, to teach English as a foreign language.
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My aim is to transmit to students the idea that nothing is impossible. Learning a language is challenging, but entirely achievable if you keep in mind that it's a journey made of small steps.
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Lessons with Mariateresa are fascinating. She has new ideas and very interesting learning materials. She makes you really enjoy Italian and Italian culture.Beside the lessons she really motivated me to do more homework! Moreover she is a very cultured person. I am very happy.
Mariateresa M.
Hello everyone! I'm Federica and I'm a Certified Italian teacher with over 3 years of experience.
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