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Verb Usage Review / 37

The imperfect subjunctive is used in dependent che clauses when the verb in the
main tense is in the past tense or present conditional.
Pensavo che lui fosse italiano. I thought he was Italian.
Vorrei che tu venissi qui. I would like you to come here.

The imperfect subjunctive is a simple tense and it is formed by dropping the infini-
tive ending –are, –ere, or –ire and adding the appropriate ending, as shown in the
following Table 13, to the remaining stem.

Table 13 The Imperfect Subjuntive Regular Forms
Drop –are –ere –ire
(io) –assi –essi –issi
(tu) –assi –essi –issi
(lui/lei/Lei) –asse –esse –isse
(noi) –assimo –essimo –issimo
(voi) –aste –este –iste
(loro) –assero –essero –issero

parlare: parlassi, parlassi, parlasse, parlassimo, parlaste, parlassero
vivere: vivessi, vivessi, vivesse, vivessimo, viveste, vivessero
dormire: dormissi, dormissi, dormisse, dormissimo, dormiste, dormissero
capire: capissi, capissi, capisse, capissimo, capiste, capissero

Note the following about the imperfect subjunctive:
• The endings are the same for all conjugations. The only difference is the
characteristic vowel that each conjugation maintains (–are, –ere, –ire)
• The main stress falls on the second syllable from the end—for example,
caPIssi, caPIsse, caPIste. The noi and the loro forms have the stress on the
third vowel from the end—for example, caPIssimo, caPIssero.

The following verbs have an irregular imperfect subjunctive:

Infinitive Imperfect Subjunctive
dare dessi, dessi, desse, dessimo, deste, dessero
stare stessi, stessi, stesse, stessimo, steste, stessero
essere fossi, fossi, fosse, fossimo, foste, fossero

As in the imperfect indicative, the verbs fare (to do, to make), bere (to drink), dire
(to say), and tradurre (to translate) conjugate according to the Latin infinitive to
form the subjunctive imperfect.
fare (Latin facere): facessi, facessi, facesse, facessimo, faceste, facessero
bere (Latin bibere, old Italian bevere): bevessi, bevessi, bevesse, bevessimo,
beveste, bevessero
dire (Latin dicere): dicessi, dicessi, dicesse, dicessimo, diceste, dicessero
tradurre (Latin traducere): traducessi, traducessi, traducesse, traducessimo,
traduceste, traducessero