The past perfect subjunctive: Italian grammar lesson 210

We use the congiuntivo (subjunctive) to talk about hopes, hypotheses, desires, fears, possibilities, and doubts.

And we use congiuntivo trapassato specifically for talking about an event that happened before another event in the past.

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Il congiuntivo trapassato

In today’s lesson, we’re going to focus on the congiuntivo trapassato.

We use this structure to talk about an event that happened before another event in the past.

In this case, il congiuntivo trapassato is usually preceded by constructions like the following:

  • pensavo che (I thought that)
  • credevo che (I believed that)
  • speravo che(I hoped that)
  • sapevo che (I knew that)
  • sembrava che(it seemed that/it seemed like)
  • and all their variants, among others.

Its structure is similar to the indicativo trapassato, which combines the verb essere or the verb avere and the past participle.

The only difference is that this time, the verbs essere and avere are in the imperfect subjunctive.

  • imperfect subjunctive avere + past participle
  • imperfect subjunctive essere + past participle

il congiuntivo trapassato in italiano 1

Avere and essere

Let’s review the verbs essere and avere in the imperfect subjunctive:

Avere

io avessi
tu avessi
lui / lei avesse
noi avessimo
voi aveste
loro avessero

Essere

io fossi
tu fossi
lui / lei fosse
noi fossimo
voi foste
loro fossero

Here’s a tip for you, in case you don’t remember this:

Don’t forget the past participles are those words that end in -ATO, -UTO, and -ITO, like mangiato, saputo, and dormito.

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As we mentioned in other lessons, there are many past participles that are irregular.

Let’s review some of them: aperto, bevuto, chiesto, detto, fatto, letto, perso, rotto, scritto, stato, venuto, visto.

Another important thing to remember is that the past participle of the verbs that go with essere agree in number and gender with the subject.

il congiuntivo trapassato internal 2

Practice with Quizlet

Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.

Il congiuntivo trapassato: examples

Pensavo che loro fossero partite la scorsa settimana.

I thought they had left last week.

Credevo che voi aveste già finito i compiti.

I thought you had already finished your homework.

Non sapevamo che voi aveste comprato casa.

We didn’t know you had bought a house.

Avevo paura che tu avessi perso l’aereo.

I was scared you might have missed your flight.

Mi sembrava che non vi foste divertiti alla festa.

It seemed to me that you didn’t have fun at the party.

Pensavamo che tu fossi già stata in Francia.

We thought you had already been to France.

The Italian congiuntivo trapassato

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FAQs on The past perfect subjunctive: Italian grammar lesson 210

When do we use the "congiuntivo trapassato"?

We use this structure to talk about an event that happened before another event in the past.

What is the structure with "avere"?

imperfect subjunctive avere + past participle

What is the structure with "essere"?

imperfect subjunctive essere + past participle

Stefano

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