Page 43 - verbo italiano

Verb Usage Review / 33

pare che it seems that
può darsi che it is possible
sembra it seems

Note the following about when not to use the subjunctive:
• Impersonal expressions that indicate certainty require the indicative in the
dependent clause. Example of such expressions are:

è ovvio che it is obvious that
è vero che it is true that
è certo che it is sure that
è sicuro che it is certain that
• If no subject is specified, an infinitive is used after an impersonal
expression:

È’ importante mangiare bene. It is important to eat well. (no subject)
È’ importante che tu mangi bene. It is important that you eat well.
(subject = “you”)

THE SUBJUNCTIVE TENSES
The Italian subjunctive mood has two simple and two corresponding compound
tenses.
Simple Tenses Compound Tenses
Present (presente) Present perfect (passato)
Imperfect (imperfetto) Past perfect (trapassato)
See Table 3 and Table 4 for a quick correlation between the Italian subjunctive
tenses and the English equivalent.
The tense to be used in the subjunctive is determined by:
• The tense of the verb in the main clause
• The time relationship between the two clauses

When the main/independent clause is in the present tense (io penso/I think), the
dependent clause may be in the present tense if its action occurs at the same time
or in the future, or in the past tense if its action had happened in the past, as in the
following examples:

Penso che Vincent parli bene. I think Vincent speaks well.
Penso che Vincent abbia parlato bene. I think Vincent has spoken well.

The conditions that call for the use of the present and present perfect subjunc-
tive also apply to the use of the imperfect and past perfect subjunctive. If the verb
that announces the use of the subjunctive is in the main clause or an impersonal
expression is in a past tense or the conditional, the imperfect subjunctive is used
in the subordinate clause.