Correlazione dei tempi

The congiuntivo (subjunctive) has four tenses:

• congiuntivo presente (present subjunctive)
• congiuntivo passato (past subjunctive)
• congiuntivo imperfetto (imperfect subjunctive)
• congiuntivo trapassato (pluperfect subjunctive)

When two clauses are connected by che, the tense of the congiuntivo in the secondary clause (verb2) is determined by two factors:

1. the tense and mood of the verb in the main clause (verb1);
2. the time relationship between the two clauses (between verb1 and verb2).

When verb1 is in the present tense, future tense, or imperativo (imperative), verb2 may be in the:

1. congiuntivo presente if its action happens at the same time or in the future;
2. congiuntivo passato if its action preceded the action of verb1.
   • Penso che i ragazzi arrivino oggi. [verb1: Penso is in the present tense and verb2: arrivino is in the congiuntivo presente because its action happens at the same time (oggi)]
   • Penso che i ragazzi siano arrivati ieri. [verb1: Penso is in the present tense and verb2: siano arrivati is in the congiuntivo passato because it reports a previous action (ieri)]

When verb1 is in any past tense (passato prossimo, imperfetto, passato remoto) or in the condizionale (conditional), verb2 may be in the:

1. congiuntivo imperfetto if its action happens at the same time or later than the action of verb1;
2. congiuntivo trapassato if its action preceded the action of verb1.
   • Pensavo che i ragazzi arrivassero oggi. [verb1: Pensavo is in the imperfetto and verb2: arrivassero is in the congiuntivo presente because its action happens later than the action of verb1 (oggi)]
   • Pensavo che i ragazzi fossero arrivati ieri. [verb1: Pensavo che is in the imperfetto and verb2: fossero arrivati is in the congiuntivo passato because it reports a previous action (ieri)]

The following chart summarizes the sequence of tenses.

The expressions come se (as if) and magari (if only) are always followed by the congiuntivo imperfetto or the congiuntivo trapassato.

• • Si comportano come se fossero bambini. (They act as if they were children.)
  • Magari avessimo venti anni! (If only we were twenty years old!)