The Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility,
opinions, etc. and is used much more frequently in Italian. It is mainly
used in dependent clauses (sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not
have a complete meaning) that are introduced by che.
The "congiuntivo" is also required with particular expressions such as:
- Impersonal forms » è necessario che, bisogna che, è
importante che... tu venga al cinema - it's necessary that, it's
important that... you come to the movie
- Comparative clauses » è il film più interessante che abbia
visto - it is
the most interesting movie that I saw
- Sentences introduced by » affinché - perché
(so that), tranne che (a part
that), a meno che (unless), sebbene -
malgrado - nonostante (altough), purché - a patto
che (provided that), come se (as
if)
- Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns »
qualsiasi - qualunque (any), chiunque (whoever), dovunque (anywhere)
- Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns »
niente che - nulla che (nothing that), nessuno
che (nobody that), l'unico/a che - il solo/a
che (the only one that)
Italian subjunctive has four forms. The two first ones (Present and Imperfect Subjunctive) are simple tenses, with their own inflections:
» Present Subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente)
» Imperfect Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Imperfetto)
And the last compound tenses (congiuntivo passato and congiuntivo trapassato) are made in the same way as the indicative ones (auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb), though the two auxiliaries essere and avere use subjunctive inflections.
» Perfect (Past) Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Passato)
» Pluperfect (Congiuntivo trapassato)
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