IL MODO CONGIUNTIVO

The subjunctive mood (il congiuntivo) expresses a person’s emotions, opinions, desires, or subjective attitude toward events, as well as actions or states that the person views as uncertain or hypothetical

Consists of a main clause and a subordinate or dependent clause connected by che. The main clause contains a verb or expression that triggers the use of the subjunctive in the subordinate clause.

The subject of the main verb must be different from the one expressed by the "congiuntivo"

Expressions/Verbs

that trigger the Subjunctive

  • Verbs expressing hope and desire trigger the subjunctive, as do verbs of will used to influence the actions of others.

  • Verbs of opinion, doubt, and uncertainty also require the subjunctive in subordinate clauses.

  • MostConjunctionsmust be followed by the subjunctive in Italian.

  • Impersonal expressions trigger the use of subjunctive also.

  • Here are more examples of expressions of both types.

IL CONGIUNTIVO PRESENTE

The present subjunctive is formed by adding the characteristics endings to the stem of the verb.

  • Verbs ending in –care and –gare add an h between the stem and the ending to maintain the hard sound of the c or g (paghi,paghi, paghi, paghiamo, paghiate, paghino).
  • Verbs ending in –ciare and –giare do not double the i when forming the subjunctive (mangi, mangi, mangi, mangiamo, mangiate, mangino). The only exception is when the I in the infinitive is stressed, as in the verb sciare(scii, scii, scii, sciamo, sciate, sciino).

Il Congiuntivo presente dei

Verbi Irregolari

These following verbs have irregular forms in the present subjunctive, including ESSERE, and AVERE.

oESSERE e AVEREare also irregular in the present subjunctive

essere

/

avere

sia

/

ab bia

sia

/

abbia

sia

/

abbia

siamo

/

abbiamo

siate

/

abbiate

siano

/

abbiano

io / tu / lei/lui/Lei / noi / voro / loro
1⁰ conjugazione
andare / vada / vada / vada / andiamo / andiate / vadano
dare / dia / dia / dia / diamo / diate / diano
fare / faccia / faccia / faccia / facciamo / facciate / facciano
stare / stia / stia / stia / stiamo / stiate / stiano
2⁰ conjugazione
bere / beva / beva / beva / beviamo / beviate / bevano
dovere / debba / debba / debba / dobbiamo / dobbiate / debbano
potere / possa / possa / possa / possiamo / possiate / possano
rimanere / rimanga / fimanga / rimanga / rimaniamo / rimaniate / rimangano
sapere / sappia / sappia / sappia / sappiamo / sappiate / sappiano
scegliere / scelga / scelga / scelga / scegliamo / scegliate / scelgano
volere / voglia / voglia / voglia / vogliamo / vogliate / vogliano
3⁰ conjugazione
dire / dica / dica / dica / diciamo / diciate / dicano
morire / muoia / muoia / muoia / moriamo / moriate / muoiano
uscire / esca / esca / esca / usciamo / usciate / escano
venire / venga / venga / venga / veniamo / veniate / vengano

IL CONGIUNTIVO IMPERFETTO

  • The congiuntivo imperfetto (imperfect subjunctive) is used in the same situations as the present subjunctive, except that the verb in the main clause is in the past or the conditional.
  • Use the imperfect subjunctive when

the action in the subordinate clause…
takes place at the same time as the past action (imperfetto o passato prossimo) in the main clause. / io ero/ sono statosorpreso che lui fosse così bravo cantando.
I was surprised that he was so good at singing.
takes place later than the (present) conditional action in the main clause. / io preferirei che tu comprassi un’altra macchina.
I would prefer that you buy another car.
  • The pattern of conjugation is identical for verbs ending in -are, -ere, and -ire. Drop the -re to form the stem and add the imperfect subjunctive endings. Note that the io and tu endings are identical.
  • While all verbs have the same endings, a few common verbs have irregular stems.