Italian grammar · Upper intermediate (B2)
The sequence of tenses: la concordanza dei tempi
How to choose the right tense in the second half of a sentence: the congiuntivo presente, passato, imperfetto and trapassato, and the future in the past.
The idea
In a sentence like … or …, the tense after depends on two things: the tense of the main verb, and whether the second action happens at the same time, before or after. Italian calls this .
English does something similar: “I think he's right” but “I thought he was right”. Italian is stricter, especially with the congiuntivo.
The congiuntivo trapassato
The completes the set. It's the congiuntivo imperfetto of or + the past participle: , . Use it after a verb in the past for something that had happened before, after , and in unreal past sentences.
| Person | ||
|---|---|---|
| / | ||
| / | ||
| / | / | |
| / | ||
| / | ||
| / |
Main verb in the present or future
Use the congiuntivo presente for the same time or later, and the congiuntivo passato for something before: (I think it's true), (I think he's already left). For something clearly later, the future is also common: .
- Credo che Marta abbia ragione.I think Marta is right.
- Temo che da allora sia cambiato tutto.I'm afraid everything has changed since then.
Main verb in the past or conditional
Use the congiuntivo imperfetto for the same time, the congiuntivo trapassato for something before, and the condizionale passato for something later (the future in the past): , , .
After a conditional like or , use the congiuntivo imperfetto: (I'd like you to come).
| Main verb | Same time | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| … | / | ||
| … | |||
| … |