Struttura 6.1 I pronomi relativi

You are definitely at the point of your study of Italian in which it is time to work on creating more complex sentences. You can do this by expanding your vocabulary and by using more complex verb forms, but you can also do this by using relative pronouns to connect ideas. Relative pronouns are the small connecting words that can mean that, who, whom, which, or whose when used within a sentence. In Italian the most common relative pronouns are che, which you are surely familiar with at this point, and cui, which is usually preceded by a preposition.

Che

Within a sentence, che can mean who, whom, that, or which. It can be used as the direct object or subject of a relative clause.

Let’s look at the first example above. Technically, there are two possible sentences there.

Michelangelo fu un artista. (Michelangelo was an artist.)
Michelangelo visse durante il Rinascimento. (Michelangelo lived during the Renaissance.)

Both of these are, of course, correct on their own. But just like we do with direct and indirect object pronouns, we use relative pronouns to avoid repetition and also to create more complex sentences. In this case, Michelangelo is the common element, and the second sentence adds further description to the type of artist he was.

Therefore, we take the main clause (Michelangelo fu un artista), add the relative pronoun che as the glue that binds the two clauses together, and add the dependent clause (visse durante il Rinascimento).

Es. Michelangelo fu un artista che visse durante il Rinascimento.

(Michelangelo was an artist who lived during the Renaissance.)

Tada! A more complex sentence.

Let’s look at another example with che.

L’Accademia è un museo. (The Accademia is a museum.)
Il museo si trova a Firenze. (The museum is located in Florence.)

In this example, the common element is museo, which is what che will replace in the complex sentence.

Es. L’Accademia è un museo che si trova a Firenze.
(main clause) + che + (dependent clause)

(The Accademia is a museum [that is] located in Florence.)

From these two examples, you can observe a couple important distinctions between the usage of relative pronouns between English and Italian.

1. One is that chi, which we typically associate with who, is not a relative pronoun in Italian. Chi is used primarily as an interrogative or a subject pronoun. To express who or whom within a sentence, we use che, even when we are speaking about a person.
2. The other difference is that these pronouns are rarely, if ever, omitted. In English there are examples in which we can leave out the che. In Italian that is not the case–che should always be included.

Es. L’opera di Michelangelo che ho visto negli Uffizi e’ meravigliosa.

(The work by Michelangelo (that) I saw in the Uffizi is wonderful.)

Cui

Che is a very common relative pronoun, and you have already encountered it naturally throughout your studies of Italian. Another common relative pronoun that might be new to you is cui. Cui can also mean whom, that, or which, but the biggest difference is that it is often preceded by a preposition. Remember that all-important rule about English grammar that you should never end a sentence with a preposition? Well, that rule exists in Italian, too, and one of the primary ways that you can avoid this error is to use the relative pronoun cui with that pronoun you were about to (incorrectly) put at the end of the sentence.

Let’s look at the second example from the beginning of this section.

Il Rinascimento fu un periodo. (The Renaissance was a time period.)
Nel Rinascimento furono creati alcuni dei capolavori dell’arte occidentale. (During the Renaissance some of the greatest masterpieces of Western art were created.)

If we combine the two sentences:

Es. Il Rinascimento fu un periodo in cui furono creati alcuni dei capolavori dell’arte occidentale.

(The Renaissance was a period in which some of the greatest masterpieces of Western art were created.)

In this example, we have the preposition in with the relative pronoun cui. Cui replaces the object of the preposition, which in this case is Rinascimento.

Cui can be accompanied by all of the other common prepositions as well: a cui, di cui, da cui, su cui, per cui, con cui. Here are some other examples:

Es. Ho scritto al professore. Il professore non mi ha risposto. → Il professore a cui ho scritto non mi ha risposto.

(The professor to whom I wrote did not respond to me.)

Es. L’artista ha una mostra nel Museo delle Belle Arti. Parlavamo dell’artista l’altro giorno. → L’artista di cui parlavamo l’altro giorno ha una mostra nel Museo delle Belle Arti.

(The artist about whom we were speaking the other day has a show at the Museum of Fine Arts.)

Es. Il DNA è una molecola. Si può capire l’identità di una persona dal DNA. → Il DNA è una molecola da cui si può capire l’identità di una persona.

(DNA is a molecule from which a person’s identity can be understood.)

Es. La lavagna è un oggetto nell’aula. La professoressa scrive gli esempi sulla lavagna. → La lavagna è un oggetto su cui la professoressa scrive. 

(The blackboard is an object on which the professor writes.)

Es. Visitare i musei è un motivo. Le persone vanno a Firenze per visitare i musei. → Visitare i musei è un motivo per cui le persone vanno a Firenze.

(Visiting museums is a reason [for which] people go to Florence.)

Es. Una guida lavora in un museo. Si può fare un tour di un museo con una guida. → Una guida è qualcuno con cui si può fare un tour di un museo. 

(A guide is someone with whom you can take a tour of a museum.)

Because prepositions can be difficult in both English and Italian, these forms can be deceptively difficult! Sometimes it helps to work backwards in order to find the correct preposition, and then create the sentence from there.

There is one other use of cui that differs a bit from those above. When it is preceded by a definite article (il, lo, la, l’, i, gli, le), then it means whose. The article agrees with the noun it modifies, not with the subject.

Es. L’artista le cui opere si trovano in quel museo viene da Siena.

(The artist whose works are found in that museum comes from Siena.)

Es. Gli artisti il cui stile è considerato moderno si esibiscono in musei come il MOMA a New York.

(Artists whose style is considered modern have exhibits in museums like the MOMA in New York.)

*Il/la quale, i/le quali

If you really want to increase the sophistication of your writing, there is a third option. In most of the examples above, che and cui can be substituted with a form of quale with the definite article. The form and article agree in gender and number with the person, place, or thing to which they refer. The meaning remains the same, but the quale form makes gender and number explicit, while che and cui can be ambiguous in this regard.

Here are the examples from the che section with the quale form:

Es. Michelangelo fu un artista che visse durante il Rinascimento. → Michelangelo fu un artista il quale visse durante il Rinascimento.
(Il quale in this example agrees with un artista).

Es. Il Rinascimento fu un periodo in cui furono creati alcuni dei capolavori dell’arte occidentale. → Il Rinascimento fu un periodo nel quale furono creati alcuni dei capolavori dell’arte occidentale.
(Note that the preposition (in) and definite article (il) combine here).

Here are the other examples. The word with which the form of quale agrees is in parentheses (in most cases, the word that precedes it).

Es. Il professore a cui / al quale ho scritto non mi ha risposto. (il professore)

Es. L’artista di cui / del(la) quale parlavamo l’altro giorno ha una mostra nel Museo delle Belle Arti. (l’artista)

Es. Il DNA è una molecola da cui / dalla quale si può capire l’identità di una persona. (la molecola)

Es. La lavagna è un oggetto su cui / sul quale la professoressa scrive. (un oggetto)

Es. Visitare i musei è un motivo per cui / per il quale le persone vanno a Firenze. (un motivo)

Es. Una guida è qualcuno con cui / con il quale si può fare un tour di un museo. (qualcuno)

Struttura 6.2 Il congiuntivo presente

Che is a small but important word that we can use to connect two clauses and form a more complex sentence. It is also a key word when creating sentences in the congiuntivo, or the subjunctive.

So what is the subjunctive, you ask? You have already learned that verbs have different tenses, like the past, present, or future, but what you might not know is that they also have different “moods”. Everything you have studied so far belongs to what is called the indicative “mood,” which is used to state facts and certainties.

Here’s an example of a sentence in the indicative mood:

Oggi nevica. (Today it is snowing)

Pretty straightforward and based on (visual) evidence, right?

The subjunctive “mood,” on the other hand, is used to express opinions, doubts, advice, emotions, desires, and hopes – anything that is subjective or impossible, rather than objective. It has all the same tenses as the indicative mood: present, past, imperfect, etc…, which means there are so many new conjugations still to learn! 😉 The subjunctive does exist in English, though it is not as common and looks a bit different. If you have already studied another Romance language, though, this should all be familiar.

Here’s an example of a sentence in the subjunctive mood:

Spero che oggi nevichi. (I hope it snows today)

This example expresses a hope rather than a fact, and you might notice that the conjugation of the verb nevicare differs from the conjugation in the indicative sentence above. This is what we’re going to explore in this section.

You are probably thinking that you have already expressed opinions, hopes, emotions, etc… using the indicative mood, which you probably have. The big difference is that not only are you expressing opinions and feelings, but you are also constructing your sentences in a certain way and with certain key phrases. The subjunctive is usually used in dependent clauses introduced by the relative pronoun che and preceded by certain verbs or verb phrases in the main clause that explicitly express the above-mentioned attitudes and feelings, as in the example.

Come si forma?

I verbi regolari

The good news about the conjugations of the present subjunctive is that…you have already started studying them in Unità 5! The imperativo formale and the congiuntivo presente share the same general conjugations.