Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense in Italian: Trapassato Congiuntivo

We've covered present subjunctive, past subjunctive, and imperfect subjunctive. That leaves just one more tense in the subjunctive mood, pluperfect subjunctive. Don't worry, this is an easy one! It's just a simple compound tense comprised of the imperfect subjunctive, which we already know, plus the past participle, which we have used many times. Let's wrap this up!
Script by Patrizia Farina, Professor of Italian at Western Connecticut State University and Purchase College.
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[@ninaruhland8358]

Thanks for a great explanation of a very difficult subject

[@bravelittletoaster3439]

Grazie mille!

[@janebalderson9544]

Eccellente - grazie. Cosi chiaro e conciso.

[@amicoipotetico2711]

Ciao Dave, sei un grande! Saluti da Barletta

[@amicoipotetico2711]

Ci vediamo la prossima estate, la figa ci aspetta!

[@JV-km9xk]

Grazie

[@tylerkutschbach]

Are you gonna post William McKinley this week or next week? Just curious.

[@ProfessorDaveExplains]

that'll be next tuesday

[@JV-km9xk]

"Ero felice che ti avesse chiesto di sposarti" = "I was happy that he asked you to marry you" Is this really correct in Italian? In english, we usually say "I was happy that he asked you to marry him" So, I thought it would be "Ero felice che ti avesse chiesto di sposarlo"

[@mariorosas1367]

I think it refers to sposarti as in loro. As both of them marrying each other. Just like if we were talking about us getting married it would be sposarci. Correct me if I am mistaken

[@fecu2394]

Ok, paused at 4:54 to have a crack. Bet you anything I get the forms wrong. Io non credevo che voi avessi mangiato. Avrei preferito che loro fossero arrivate alle 4. Ero furioso che voi aveste detto le bugie Era strano che loro fossero uscite senza permesso. Temevo che lui avesse usato il mio telefono. Era probabile che loro avessero roto il mio computer. Ero felice che lui avesse chiesto di sposarti. Loro non sapevano che io avessi comprato 3 biglietti.

[@petermercadante630]

Good effort. Not to criticise but the most obvious error was giving the feminine plural form of "arrivati" and "usciti" which of course could also be correct in the appropriate context.

[@fecu2394]

@@petermercadante630 Thanks man. I was fluent once but 20 years is a long time. :)

[@petermercadante630]

@@fecu2394 Time wise I can beat you on that! The worst thing is though is that I never knew what i didn't know. Off topic but two things spring to mind. One is that you can speak relatively fluently without knowing that much grammar. The second is that you can speak a language for a long time without ever acquiring/absorbing more complex grammatical structures. Exposure and immersion are currently fashionable concepts but may be not the be all and end all.

[@fecu2394]

@@petermercadante630 Couldn't agree more. Funnily enough, I learnt Spanish by laboriously studying the grammar with every teach yourself book I could find whereas Italian I picked up from friends with songs, comedy sketches and silly jokes. Even had a milanese accent without having gone there if you can believe that. It's been years since I've spoken a word of either though. I always found with Italian, you have to get into the frame of mind to do it properly. I remember a girl back in the day, maybe Austrian I think, spoke grammatically flawless Italian and absolutely murdered the language. :)

[@petermercadante630]

@@fecu2394 Out of interest as your post was almost a year ago, did you continue on in some way with the language after you finshed this course or did you drop it entirely? As you say you haven't spoken for years maybe the latter? My next step is undecided but my motivation to go on is now stalling as I have no occasion to use the language and don't need it for any particular purpose. Maybe its true what they say about successfully learning a language- you either need it or love it!

[@robertsorge6249]

The review is too quick. One needs more time to read and determine the correct response.

[@JV-km9xk]

You have to pause it. He didn't actually intend for us to answer it in less than a minute. In his previous episodes, he said he was going to give a test that we could pause because the answers would appear moments after.