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Italian Grammar Lessons: Subjunctive Past

The subjunctive past is formed using the present subjunctive of the auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb.

It’s used to express opinions or assumptions about something that happened in the past.

Note that the subjunctive past is used only if the verb it follows in the main sentence (I think, I believe, etc.) is in the present tense.

See below for the conjunction of the two auxiliary verbs and an example conjugation from each of the three groups. Remember that when you use the auxiliary verb ‘essere’, the ending of the past participle will change according to whether the subject is singular, plural, masculine or feminine.

Essere [to be]

io sia stato/a
tu sia stato/a
lui/lei sia stato/a
noi siamo stati/e
voi siate stati/e
loro siano stati/e

Avere [to have]

io abbia avuto
tu abbia avuto
lui/lei abbia avuto
noi abbiamo avuto
voi abbiate avuto
loro abbiano avuto

First conjugation -are

camminare [to walk]

io abbia camminato
tu abbia camminato
lui/lei abbia camminato
noi abbiamo camminato
voi abbiate camminato
loro abbiano camminato

Second conjugation -ere

rimanere [to stay/ to remain]

io sia rimasto/a
tu sia rimasto/a
lui/lei sia rimasto/a
noi siamo rimasti/e
voi siate rimasti/e
loro siano rimasti/e

Third conjugation -ire

sentire [to hear]

io abbia sentito
tu abbia sentito
lui/lei abbia sentito
noi abbiamo sentito
voi abbiate sentito
loro abbiano sentito

Here are some examples of the subjunctive past in use:

Non credo che Manuel ci abbia detto una scusa per non venire alla festa con noi.
[I don’t think that Manuel gave a reason for not coming to the party with us.]

Filippo pensa che il suo cane sia scappato mentre era in giardino a giocare.
[Filippo thinks that his dog escaped while it was playing in the garden.]

Penso che i miei genitori siano usciti prima da lavoro per prepararmi questa festa di compleanno a sorpresa.
[I think that my parents left work early to prepare this surprise birthday party for me.]

Back to Italian lesson on: subjunctive past

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