The Italian subjunctive (congiuntivo), part 3: the past — how to say “I think it was…”

In part 2 we saw how to form the subjunctive (if you missed it, here is part 2: how to form it). This time we go just one step further: how to talk about the past.

“I think he has already left.” “Back then, I thought he must be tired.” In conversation, these are actually the forms you use most.

1. There’s almost nothing new to learn

The past subjunctive is just the present subjunctive of essere / avere plus the past participle. You learned sia and abbia in part 1, so you already have all the ingredients.

And the auxiliary is the same one you use in the passato prossimo: è partito becomes sia partito, ha mangiato becomes abbia mangiato. Nothing to choose again.

The two examples in the table: Penso che sia partito. (I think he has left.) and Credo che abbia mangiato. (I think she has eaten.) With verbs that take essere, the participle agrees with the subject, just as in the passato prossimo (che siamo andati).

2. When are we talking about? Four combinations

This is the most important part of today’s lesson. In Italian, when the main clause goes into the past, the verb after it moves into the past too.

What the four sentences mean:
• Penso che sia stanco. I think he’s tired (now)
• Pensavo che fosse stanco. I thought he was tired (then)
• Penso che sia stato stanco. I think he was tired (earlier)
• Pensavo che fosse stato stanco. I thought he had been tired (before that)

And here English is actually on your side.

English shifts the tense back just like Italian: “I think he is tired” becomes “I thought he was tired”. Italian does the same: when the first verb goes into the past (pensavo), the second one follows (fosse). The only extra step is that it has to be a subjunctive.

❌ Pensavo che sia stanco.
⭕ Pensavo che fosse stanco.

The classic slip is to keep the second verb in the present out of habit. Just remember: when the first verb moves, the second moves too.

3. The imperfect subjunctive is the easiest of all

Forms like fosse and parlasse are called the “imperfect”. The name sounds hard, but it is the most regular tense in Italian: no vowel swapping as in part 2, no mountain of irregular verbs.

You just take the infinitive, drop -re and add -ssi. It works the same for -are, -ere and -ire. But io and tu are once again identical (parlassi), so don’t forget the pronoun.

The exceptions are very few: essere gives fossi, dare gives dessi, stare gives stessi. fare → facessi, dire → dicessi and bere → bevessi come from the old forms (facere, dicere, bevere), so in fact they follow the rule. avere is regular too: avessi.

4. Sometimes there is no “why”

So far I’ve tried to explain the reasons whenever I could. But there’s something I want to tell you honestly.

Italian has rules with no reason behind them.

Why, for example, does essere become sia or fossi? There’s no rule: the Latin forms (sit, fuissem) simply survived. Why does benché take the subjunctive and anche se the indicative (we saw this in part 2)? Not logic: that’s just how they have been used for a very long time.

So with things like this, it’s faster not to reason it out and simply learn them as chunks. And remember: Italians don’t know the reason either. They heard these forms as children and absorbed them. If you can’t see the logic, it isn’t because you don’t understand.

Where there’s a reason, learn the reason; where there isn’t, learn the whole thing. Once you can tell the two apart, studying becomes much easier.

5. An escape route when you’re stuck: secondo me

In the middle of a conversation you freeze: “Wait, what was the subjunctive again?” It happens all the time. For those moments, keep a way of saying it with the indicative only up your sleeve.

With secondo me (in my opinion), what follows can stay in the indicative.

• Penso che sia bello. → Secondo me è bello.
• Penso che sia stato bello. → Secondo me è stato bello.
• Pensavo che fosse stanco. → Secondo me era stanco.

This isn’t “cheating”. It’s a perfectly natural expression that Italians use every day. Rather than let the conversation stall, move on with secondo me. The subjunctive will come later, slowly.

6. Practice (answers below)

Put the verb in brackets into the correct form.

1. Penso che Marco ( partire ) ieri.
2. Credo che loro ( mangiare ) già.
3. Pensavo che tu ( essere ) a Roma.
4. Mi dispiace che voi non ( venire ) alla festa.
5. Speravo che lui ( arrivare ) in tempo.
6. Non credo che lei ( capire ) la domanda.
7. Era meglio che noi ( partire ) prima.
8. Sapevo che ( essere ) stanco. ← careful!

Answers 1. sia partito / 2. abbiano mangiato / 3. fossi / 4. siate venuti / 5. arrivasse / 6. abbia capito / 7. partissimo / 8. era

Number 8 isn’t a subjunctive: “I knew” (Sapevo) is a sure thing, still behind door ① from part 2. Since the main clause is in the past, this verb is in the past too (era). In number 6, capisca is also correct if you mean the present.

Summary

• For the past: sia / abbia + past participle, with the same auxiliary as the passato prossimo.
• When the main clause moves into the past, the second verb moves too. English does it as well.
• The imperfect (fossi, parlassi) is the most regular and the easiest.
• Rules without a reason: learn them as chunks. Italians don’t know the reason either.
• If you get stuck: secondo me + indicative.

The next topic is “if only…”: talking about hypotheses, as in Se fossi ricco... (If I were rich…). This may be where the subjunctive sounds most beautiful.

The rest happens in conversation

This lesson may look a little complicated on paper. But in real conversation two patterns cover almost everything: Penso che sia... and Pensavo che fosse.... Your mouth will learn the rest.

Grammar doesn’t stick just by reading. Use it, get it wrong, get corrected: that’s the shortest way. But finding a place to use it is the hardest part, isn’t it?

On Yuujou we hold free online Italian conversation meetups at 9 pm Japan and Korea time (in Italy it’s lunchtime). You’ll be talking with a native Italian speaker who loves Asia.

• Even a little Italian is enough
• Mixing in some English is perfectly fine
• You’re very welcome to just listen
• It’s free, no booking needed: join late or leave early, as you like

One more thing. Here you’ll find Italians who want to hear about your world. In language-exchange apps, native English speakers are the most sought-after partners of all, and they often end up as free practice for everyone else. Here it’s the other way round: everyone wants to hear your stories. Even if your Italian isn’t good yet, there’s a seat saved for you.

See the next dates　/　Signing up is free → Join yuujou.it

Ci vediamo presto! See you soon!

Written by AI, in collaboration with Alain.