What is provided that in Italian?
In today’s post, we’re going to talk about a rather formal expression that we use to give a condition.
If that condition is not met, something won’t happen.
Have a look at the example below:
- I’ll come with you provided that you help me clean.
The person talking is giving a condition: they will go somewhere with the interlocutor only if their interlocutor helps them clean.
We’re going to see how to say provided that in Italian.
Let’s find out!
How to use provided that in Italian?
You’ll probably agree with us that provided that means as long as or on condition that.
So, the translation of provided that can also be the translation of the other two expressions.
We say: purché + present subjunctive.
Purché is a rather formal word. We mainly used it in written Italian and formal contexts.
However, some people have a really rich vocabulary, so you might hear it even among your Italian friends.
Here’s an example:
Ti perdono purché tu dica la verità.
I forgive you provided that you tell the truth.
If we want to say a negative sentence, we can simply add the word non: purché + non + present subjunctive.
Ti perdono purché tu non mi menta.
I forgive you provided that you don’t lie to me.
If you don’t know or don’t remember how to form the present subjunctive, read the following section.
If you do, then you can skip to the following section.
How to form the present subjunctive?
To form the present of the subjunctive of regular verbs in Italian, you have to keep the root of the verb in the present of the indicative (parl-, ved-, part- if we take the roots of the verbs below) and add the correct endings, which are in bold in the table below:
| parlare | vedere | partire | |
| io | parli | veda | parta |
| tu | parli | veda | parta |
| lui/lei | parli | veda | parta |
| noi | parliamo | vediamo | partiamo |
| voi | parliate | vediate | partiate |
| loro | parlino | vedano | partano |
Here’s the present subjunctive of five of the most common irregular verbs:
- essere (to be): io sia, tu sia, lui/lei sia, noi siamo, voi siate, loro siano
- avere (to have): io abbia, tu abbia, lui/lei abbia, noi abbiamo, voi abbiate, loro abbiano
- venire (to come): io venga, tu venga, lui/lei venga, noi veniamo, voi veniate, loro vengano
- andare (to go): io vada, tu vada, lui/lei vada, noi andiamo, voi andiate, loro vadano
- fare(to do): io faccia, tu faccia, lui/lei faccia, noi facciamo, voi facciate, loro facciano
Purché: examples
Let’s now look at some examples with purché:
Verrò con voi purché facciate quello che vi ho detto di fare.
I’ll come with you provided that you do what I told you to do.
Andrò in ufficio purché non piova.
I’ll go to the office provided that it doesn’t rain.
Fai quello che vuoi, purché ti faccia felice.
Do what you want, provided that it makes you happy.
Puoi restare, purché tu faccia silenzio.
You can stay as long as you keep quiet.
Purché mi chiedano scusa, posso perdonarli.
Provided that they apologize, I can forgive them.
Vi do un po’ di soldi, purché compriate anche del pane.
I’ll give you some money, provided that you also buy some bread.
Ti racconterò un segreto purché tu non lo dica a nessuno!
I’ll tell you a secret as long as you don’t tell anyone.
2 Responses
Prego 😛
Grazie per questa lezione, con la sua chiarissima spiegazione della grammatica.