It is a hope, dream, possibility, opinion, or wish expressed with the congiuntivo.īut, if I say “ Domani andrà meglio” in the indicativo (indicative) mood, I am certain that “Tomorrow will be better.” Moods have an element of feeling to themĪs the word “mood” implies, moods can also reflect the feelings of a speaker. “ Spero che domani vada meglio” means “I hope tomorrow is better,” but it isn’t a guarantee. That sounds kind of trippy, but to put it simply, moods tell you whether something is really happening or not. Moods let you talk about an action’s position in reality Moods, on the other hand, tell you how the speaker feels about what he or she is saying, or how certain they are about it.įor example, the congiuntivo (subjunctive) mood’s “ Credo che lui sia al cinema” means “I believe he is at the cinema,” but implies that the speaker is not totally sure. “ Lui è al cinema,” for example, means he is at the cinema right now. Verb tenses tell you when in time an action occurred. Here are the biggest differences between moods and tenses: When vs. Some native Italians (like my husband) didn’t even know there was a distinct word for them in English! In fact, many Italian language professors teach moods as just an extension of tenses. On the surface, Italian moods seem very similar to verb tenses. How Are Italian Moods Different From Verb Tenses? They tell you the manner in which the verb is being used or how the verb is meant to be understood, not just its place in time.įor this reason, moods and tenses are often combined. Italian moods work together with verb tenses to add a shade of meaning. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. ![]() The 7 Italian Moods And How to Tell Them Apart.Moods let you talk about an action’s position in reality.How Are Italian Moods Different From Verb Tenses?.In English, for example, there are four moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and infinitive.Īlthough this abundance of moods is sometimes considered to be one of the trickier parts of learning Italian grammar, our guide will give you a good feel for when to use each one. In Italian, a mood is the form of a verb that shows how it is expressed, not just when the action happened.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |