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Table 6-1 Irregular Present Tense Subjunctive Verbs

Infinitive

Conjugation

Example

andare
(
to go
)

vada, andiamo, andiate, vadano

È
bene che vadano via.
(
It's a good thing that they're going away.
)

avere
(
to have
)

abbia, abbiamo, abbiate, abbiano

Non so chi abbia il mio libro.
(
I don't know who has my book.
)

bere
(
to drink
)

beva, beviamo, beviate, bevano

Si dice che lui beva troppo.
(
They say that he drinks too much.
)

dare
(
to give
)

dia, diamo, diate, diano

Vuoi
che gli
dia
una mano?
(
Do you want me to give him a hand?
)

dire
(
to say
)

dica, diciamo, diciate, dicano

Sembra
che
dicano
la verità.
(
It seems that they're telling the truth.
)

dovere
(
to have to
)

debba
(
deva
),
dobbiamo, dobbiate, debbano (devano
)

Peccato che dobbiate partire così presto.
(
It's
too bad you have to leave so early.
)

essere
(
to be
)

sia, siamo, siate, siano

Voglio
che tu
sia felice.
(
I want for you to be happy.
)

fare
(
to do; to make
)

faccia, facciamo, facciate, facciano

È
ora che io faccia
il footing.
(
It's time for me to go jogging.
)

potere
(
to be able to
)

possa, possiamo, possiate, possano

È
strano che i miei amici possano stare
fuori fino alle 3 di notte, e io no.
(
It's strange that my friends can stay out until 3 in the morning, and I can't.
)

proporre
(
to propose
)

proponga, proponiamo, proponiate, propongano

Cosa vuoi che io ti proponga?
(
What would you like me to suggest to you?
)

rimanere
(
to stay
)

rimanga, rimaniamo, rimaniate, rimangano

Sperano
che io rimanga vicino a casa.
(
They hope I'm going to stay close to home.
)

sapere
(
to know
)

sappia, sappiamo, sappiate, sappiano

Bisogna
che tu sappia.
(
You
need to know.
)

scegliere
(
to choose
)

scelga, scegliamo, scegliate, scelgano

Mi dispiace
che tu scelga un'università così lontana.
(
I'm sorry that you're choosing a university so far away.
)

stare
(
to be
)

stia, stiamo, stiate, stiano

Immagino
che stiano ancora insieme.
(
I guess they're still together.
)

uscire
(
to go out
)

esca, usciamo, usciate, escano

Non voglio che tu esca senza il cappotto.
(
I don't want you to go out without a coat.
)

venire
(
to come
)

venga, veniamo, veniate, vengano

Può darsi che veniamo in Italia.
(
It's possible that we're coming to Italy.
)

volere
(
to want
)

voglia, vogliamo, vogliate, vogliano

Spero che Emilia voglia andare alla spiaggia oggi.
(
I hope that Emilia wants to go to the beach today.
)

Making the Present Subjunctive a Valuable Tool

You have some options when it comes to using the present subjunctive. You can use it in different ways and in different expressions, all of which are presented in the following sections.

Expressing desires, wishes, commands, emotions, doubts, and beliefs

A subjunctive verb almost always appears in the dependent clause, generally introduced by the word
che
(
that
). The verb in the main clause, on the other hand, has to be a verb or expression that requires the subjunctive. Also note that the main and the dependent clause have to have two different subjects:
[Io]
desidero che tu vada agli allenamenti
versus
[Io] desidero andare agli allenamenti,
where the second verb is an infinitive and no
che
is required.

Even though the word
che
separates the dependent and independent clauses in the following setences, the indicative always appears with the verb
sapere
(
to know
), and the subjunctive always goes with the verb
dubitare
(
to doubt
).
Remember:
You use the indicative mood when expressing certainty and objectivity and the subjunctive mood when expressing doubt, uncertainty, opinion, or emotions.
Sapere
is certainty;
dubitare
is
uncertainty.

So
che
sei
intelligente.
(
I know that you are intelligent.
)

Dubito
che tu
sia
intelligente.
(
I doubt that you are intelligent.
)

The verbs in
Table 6-2
all require that their accompanying verbs be in the subjunctive, because they express desires, wishes, commands, emotions, doubts, or disbeliefs. All these expressions should be followed by
che
and, in this chapter, the present subjunctive.

Working with impersonal expressions

Ready for Round Two? Another instance when you use the subjunctive is when a verb in the main clause is an impersonal expression and the subject of the dependent clause is articulated:

È
importante
studiare
.
(
It's important to study.
) In this example, no subject is articulated.

È
importante che io
studi
.
(
It's important that I study.
) In this example, the subject in the dependent clause is specified, so you use the subjunctive.

An
impersonal expression
has no specific subject and often translates as
one,
you,
or
it.
Table 6-3
provides you with a list of common impersonal expressions. These impersonal expressions usually start with the third person singular of the verb
essere
(
to be
):
È
(
È bene che . . .
[
It's a good thing that
. . .]). Not all impersonal expressions, however, require the subjunctive. For example,
È certo che
. . .
(
It's certain that
. . .) accepts both the subjunctive and the indicative because it expresses a certainty:
È
certo che lui
viene
(
It's certain that he's going to come
) is as correct as
È certo che lui venga
(
It's certain that he's going to come
). So to recognize the need for impersonal expressions in the subjunctive, familiarize yourself with
Table 6-3
.

All the impersonal expressions you see in
Table 6-3
can go before the second part (the part after
che
) of the following sample sentence:

È
essenziale che lo
facciate
.
(
It's essential that you
[plural]
do it.
)

Table 6-3 Impersonal Expressions in Main Clauses

Expression

Translation

bisogna che

it's necessary that; to have to; should

è bene che

it's good that

è importante che

it's important that

è incredibile che

it's incredible that

è inutile che

it's useless that; it's pointless that

è male che

it's bad that

è meglio che

it's better that

è ora che

it's time that

è (im)possibile che

it's (im)possible that

è (im)probabile che

it's (im)probable that; it's (un)likely that

è strano che

it's strange that

pare che

it seems that

peccato che

it's too bad that

può darsi che

it's possible that

sembra che

it seems that

Handling conjunctions and words that end in -unque

Now you get to review a couple more categories of words and conditions that require the subjunctive tense! (Quite a useful tense, aye?) These areas include
conjunctions
(words connecting two different clauses) and indefinite forms ending in
-unque.
You don't use these constructions as frequently as the impersonal expressions (refer to
Table 6-3
) and the verbs and expressions in
Table 6-2
, but you should acquaint yourself with them anyway. Check out
Table 6-4
for some conjunctions and
Table 6-5
for some
-unque
words.

You attach the present subjunctive tense to the conjunctions and indefinite expressions, which will be in dependent clauses. Main clauses here should appear in the present indicative for the most part, but they can also be in the future tense (see
Chapter 5
in Book IV for details on this tense). The order of the clauses doesn't matter, provided that you keep the subjunctive with its conjunction or
-unque
word.

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