Italian 4.5. Present Subjunctive Tense I

All the tenses we have encountered so far were in the indicative mood. The indicative mood is what we use to express facts. This is the mood we encounter often. There are five moods in total in Italian: infinitive, indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and conditional. The present subjunctive tense is used in Italian to express opinion, possibility, and feelings, such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc. Generally speaking, the indicative describes facts, whereas the subjunctive describes non-facts.

Conjugation

To conjugate verbs in the present subjunctive tense in Italian, we begin from the first-person singular in the present indicative, i.e., “parlo,” “vendo,” “parto,” “finisco,” etc., and we extract the stem “parl-,” “vend-,” “part-,” “finisc-,” etc., by dropping the last “-o.” Then, we add the endings shown in the following table. The “noi” and “voi” forms are conjugated differently. The “noi” form is the same as the indicative, and the “voi” form has “-iate” ending regardless of the verb group.

From the examples in the table, notice that:

1. The forms “io,” “tu,” and “lui/lei” have identical conjugation. This makes them, unlike in the indicative mood, indistinguishable if the subject is omitted. Thus, we often include the subject if one of these three forms is used.

2. The “noi” form of regular verbs has identical conjugation in both the indicative and subjunctive moods.

3. The “voi” form has the same conjugation ending in all verb groups in the present subjunctive.

4. All verbs with “-ere” and “-ire” endings have the same conjugation patterns in the present subjunctive.

Verbs with Irregular “io” Form in the Present Indicative

You must remember to use the stem from the first-person “io” form in the present indicative, not the stem from the infinitive. This is especially important with verbs that are irregular in the “yo” form in the present indicative. For example, the stem from “io bevo” is used for the verb “bere” (to drink) in the present subjunctive.

Here are some examples:

Irregular Verbs

There are only few irregular verbs in the present subjunctive tense in Italian that do not follow the aforementioned conjugation patterns. These include the following:

1. Verbs with “-are” ending that follow the conjugation pattern of “-ere” and “-ire” verbs.

There are two common verbs in this group: “andare” (to go) and “fare” (to do or to make). The “noi” form is the same as the indicative. The “voi” form of “andare” is irregular and uses the stem from the infinitive.

2. Verbs that use the stem from the “noi” form instead of the “io” form, by dropping the last “-amo.”

There are a few common verbs in this category. The “noi” form is the same as the indicative, and the “voi” form drops one “i” to avoid the double “i” sound.

3. Contracted infinitive verbs with “-rre” endings are all conjugated like “-ere” and “-ire” verbs.

The “noi” form is the same as the indicative, and the “voi” form uses the stem from the infinitive with the “-iate” ending.

4. Finally, the same orthographic changes applied to verbs ending in “-care,” “-gare,” “-ciare,” “-giare,” and “-gliare” in the present indicative tense are applied here to maintain the proper pronunciation.

Uses of the Present Subjunctive Tense in Italian

In Italian, the present subjunctive tense is usually used in subordinate clauses that use the conjunction “che” (that), where the main clause expresses opinions and feelings such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc.

Expressing Opinions

Knowing when to use the indicative mood and when to use the subjunctive mood when expressing an opinion in Italian can be a little tricky. Nevertheless, these are the main guidelines:

1. Impersonal Opinions

For impersonal opinions, such as “it is important that …,” “it is good that …,” and “it is bad that …,” we generally use the subjunctive mood, for example:

However, if the impersonal opinion expresses some sense of certainty, such as “it is true that …” or “it is obvious that …,” the indicative mood is used, for example:

If any of the above expressions is used to express doubt, the subjunctive mood must be used, for example:

2. Personal Opinions

If the main clause expresses an opinion that is not asserted as a fact, the subordinate clause is in the subjunctive mood, for example:

If the main clause indicates certainty or the assertion of a fact, the subordinate clause must be in the indicative, not in the subjunctive mood, for example:

Expressing Possibilities

Most expressions that express the possibility or probability of something being one way or the other use the subjunctive mood. For example:

Some notable exceptions that use the indicative are “forse” and “magari.” Both words mean “perhaps” or “maybe,” but “magari” indicates more excitement or hope. For example:

Expressing Desires, Wishes, Feelings, and Requests

In general, desires, wishes, feelings, and requests are expressed in the subjunctive mood, for example:

Note that when the verb in the main clause is used to express desire, the subjunctive mood is only used if the subject and the performer of the action are not the same. For example:

If the subject and the performer of the action are the same, we use the infinitive following the verb. For example:

When the verb in the main clause expresses an opinion, feeling, demand, or doubt, and the subject and the performer of the action are the same, we use the infinitive preceded by “di.” For example:

Next: Present Progressive Tense

Read also: Present Subjunctive Tense II

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