Italian Essentials: Congiuntivo Presente (Present Subjunctive)
- Mille Larsen •2 mins read
It's subjunctive week. Yesterday we looked at exactly what the subjunctive mood is, and how it is used. Today, we're going to take our first look at how the subjunctive mood is used in Italian, with the congiuntivo presente.
Il congiuntivo presente
The congiuntivo presente, or present subjunctive, describes an uncertain verb action in the present tense. It is formed with the following endings:
| -are | -ere | -ire | -ire (2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| che io | -i | -a | -a | -isca |
| che tu | -i | -a | -a | -isca |
| che lui/lei | -i | -a | -a | -isca |
| che noi | -iamo | -iamo | -iamo | -iamo |
| che voi | -iate | -iate | -iate | -iate |
| che loro | -ino | -ano | -ano | -iscano |
Basically, you reverse the -are and -ire endings, except for noi and voi, which get the same endings no matter what. So if you see an -ire verb with what appears to be an -are ending, that is your signal that you are seeing the subjunctive mood.
The only other thing to take note of are the second form -ire verbs, whose stems morph to add an isc before the ending, such as capire, which normally becomes capisco in the first person, but becomes capisca under the subjunctive mood. And the same applies in second and third person, and so on.
Examples
Here are a few examples of the congiuntivo presente.
lavare:
Credo che lavino il cane molto spesso.
bere:
Spero che non bevano molto.
mangiare:
Penso che mangino.
dormire:
Desidero che tu dorma comodamente.
If you've been practicing and studying, your ears will automatically pick up on the dischord of -are endings on -ire verbs, and vice-versa, and recognizing the subjunctive mood will be a piece of cake.
Tomorrow, we'll look at the congiuntivo imperfetto.