Italian 5.5. Present Subjunctive Tense II

We discussed some of the uses of the subjunctive mood in Level IV, Lesson 5, mainly expressing opinions, possibilities, desires, wishes, feelings, and requests.

Here, we will cover other cases in which the subjunctive mood ought to be used.

Expressions Starting with “Che”

The conjunction “che” can be used to express a wish or hope if placed in the beginning of an expression followed by the subjunctive. For example:

Che la neve ci copra tutti.	Let the snow cover us all.
Che trovino la strada alla fine.	Hopefully, they find the way eventually.

Expressions with Conjunctions ending in “-ché” or “che”

Let us examine the following expressions:

affinché perché in modo che	so that, in order that
purché a patto che sempre che	provided (that), as long as
a meno che	unless
senza che	without (that)
prima che	before (that)
nel caso che	in the event that
benché	although, despite that

Notice that the above expressions are either simple conjunctions ending in “-ché” or compound conjunctions ending in “che.,” Such expressions are often followed by the subjunctive, for example:

Dammi la chiave in modo che possa entrare.	Give me the key so that he can get in.
Farò del mio meglio affinché tu ti diverta.	I will do my best so that you enjoy your time.
Le persone lavorano sodo perché i loro figli abbiano una buona vita.	People work hard so that their kids have a good life.
Va bene purché finisca bene.	That’s fine as long as it ends well.
A meno che tu (non) abbia molti soldi, sarà difficile vivere qui.	Unless you have enough money, it will be difficult to live here.
Lascerò la chiave senza che lui veda.	I will leave the key without him seeing.
Prima che inizi il gioco, facciamo shopping.	Before the game starts, let’s go shopping.
Andrò in palestra benché sia stanco.	I’ll go to the gym although I am tired.

Notice that the “non” after “a meno che” is redundant and does not affect the meaning of “unless.”

In a sense, all the expressions above indicate either doubt or a hypothetical situation, that is, non-fact statements that require the use of the subjunctive mood.

Expressions with Some Conjunctions ending in “-que”

Some conjunctions that end in “-que” or convey the meaning of “any” require the use of the subjunctive. Examples of these conjunctions include:

qualsiasi qualunque	any, whatever, whichever
chiunque	whoever
dovunque	wherever

Let us take examples with these conjunctions:

Qualunque opzione tu scelga, devi stare attento.	Whichever option you choose, you have to be careful.
Potrei invitare chiunque tu voglia alla riunione.	I could invite whoever you want to the meeting.
Ti incontrerò dovunque tu sia in questo momento.	I will meet you wherever you are right now.

Negative Conjunctions followed by “che”

Some compound conjunctions that end in “che” and convey a negative meaning such as “nothing,” “nobody,” “the only one,” etc., require the use of the subjunctive. Examples of these conjunctions include:

niente che nulla che	nothing that, anything that
nessuno che	nobody who, anybody who
l’unico che	the only one who

Here are some examples with these conjunctions:

Niente che io voglia è disponibile qui.	Nothing that I want is available here.
Non fare nulla che sia offensivo.	Do nothing that is offensive.
Non conosco nessuno che voglia questo.	I don’t know anyone who wants this.
Sei l’unico che possa leggerlo.	You are the only one who can read that.

Superlative Expressions with “che” followed by a Verb

If a superlative expression has a verb in the subordinate clause that follows “che,” the verb should be in the subjunctive. For example:

È la persona più onesta che conosca.	He is the most honest person that I know.
Questo è lo strumento più utile che abbia.	This is the most useful tool that I have.
È il momento migliore che ci sia per andare al mare.	It’s the best time there is to go to the beach.

Expressions meaning “Although” or “Despite (that)”

The Italian conjunctions “benché,” “sebbene,” “malgrado,” “nonostante,” and “anche se” all have the meaning of “although,” “even though,” or “despite (that),” and all of them, except “anche se,” require the use of the verb in the subjunctive. Here are some examples:

Viaggia molto benché non sia ricco.	He travels a lot although he is not rich.
Viaggia molto sebbene non sia ricco.
Viaggia molto malgrado non sia ricco.
Viaggia molto nonostante non sia ricco.
Viaggia molto anche se non è ricco.

Notice that “anche se” is the only conjunction that requires the indicative to convey the same meaning of “although” or “despite that.”

Another possible conjunction that conveys the same meaning is “pur” which is often followed by the gerund. For example:

Viaggia molto pur non essendo ricco.

He travels a lot despite not being rich.

Finally, if “anche se” is followed by the imperfect subjunctive, the meaning would change to “even if” and the preceding phrase is often in the conditional tense, that is, for example:

Viaggerebbe molto anche se non fosse ricco.

He would travel a lot even if he were not rich.

Next: Present Perfect Subjunctive Tense

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