The 5 verbs that almost all of us conjugate badly in the subjunctive

The subjunctive is one of the most fascinating (and feared) verbal forms in Italian grammar. It serves to express what is not certain: doubts, opinions, desires, possibilities. In other words, it comes into play every time the sentence stops telling an objective fact and starts reflecting a point of view, a doubt, something we are not sure of. For example: if we say “I know you suffer” (indicative) we are stating something certain, while “I think you suffer” (subjunctive) expresses a thought.

The name “subjunctive” comes from Latin coniunctivuswhich means “linked” or “put together”, because it serves precisely to connect one sentence to another, expressing relationship and dependence. In the transition to Italian, however, this verbal form lost many of its original distinctions between tenses and forms. Some verbs – such as go or give – have retained irregular and unintuitive structures, and this is precisely where much of the modern confusion arises. Using the subjunctive mood well is not a matter for language purists. It is rather a way to be more precise when we speak or write, because some nuances of meaning pass through the choice of verbal mode.

1. Go

One of the verbs that Italians most often stumble upon when using the subjunctive is go. The classic mistake is “let me go”. The ear probably suggests that extra i, because the sound seems to flow better, but in reality the correct form is go. In fact, the present subjunctive is constructed like this: “that I go, that you go, that he or she goes, that we go, that you go, that they go”. This is why we say “I hope you go to the concert”, while “I hope you go to the concert” remains an incorrect form, even if it often happens in speech.

2. Cook

Another verb that generates a lot of doubt is to cook. Here it is almost the opposite: many think that the “cook” shape is wrong, when in fact it is exactly the right one. The present subjunctive is “let me cook, let you cook, let him or her cook, let us cook, let you cook, let them cook”. The most common error, however, is not in the form of the verb, but in the manner: the indicative is often used instead of the subjunctive. So you may hear “It is important that the sauce cooks slowly”, while the correct phrase is “It is important that the sauce cooks slowly”. This also happens because the indicative dominates in the language of recipes: phrases like “cook for ten minutes” are the norm and end up influencing the way we speak.

3. Give

The verb give is confusing for a different reason. Many say “that I give”, but in reality the present subjunctive uses the root dia-: “that I give, that you give, that he or she gives, that we give, that you give, that they give”. The error often arises from a mental association with other forms of the verb, such as the simple past indicative (diedi, desti). But in the present the construction is different: we will therefore say “I hope you give Dario a hand”, not “I hope you give Dario a hand”. If we then move on to the past subjunctive, the form becomes regular again: “that I have given”.

4. Stay

Something similar happens with stare. Here too many instinctively try to “regularize” the verb and end up saying “that I was”. In reality this form does not exist in the present subjunctive. The correct construction is “that I am, that you are, that he or she is, that we are, that you are, that they are”. This is why the correct sentence is “I think you were better”, while “I think you were better” is grammatically incorrect.

5. Come

Finally there is one of the most famous slips: coming. The form “let me come” sounds surprisingly natural to many speakers, but it is actually incorrect. The present subjunctive is “that I come, that you come, that he or she comes, that we come, that you come, that they come”. Therefore we will say “I think he comes tomorrow”, not 2I think he comes tomorrow”. The error often arises from confusion with other verbs in -ire, which follow different patterns.

Curiosities about the subjunctive

Unlike the indicative, which mainly serves to tell facts and certainties, or the imperative, which instead gives orders and indications, the subjunctive comes into play when the conversation moves to a more personal level. It is the verbal way we use when we express a desire, a fear, a hope or a doubt. Phrases like “I hope you are well” or “I’m afraid it will rain” do not describe something certain: they rather tell what we feel or what we imagine could happen. This is why using the subjunctive correctly is not just a question of grammar. In a certain sense it also means giving space to the more emotional dimension of language. Some linguists describe it as a kind of tone variation in the sentence: when the subjunctive appears, it is as if the language changes register slightly, almost like what happens in music when the melody changes to another key.

And remaining in the musical field, the singer-songwriter Lorenzo Baglioni has even dedicated a song to the sometimes difficult verbal mode, entitled precisely The subjunctivepresenting it at Sanremo 2018.

Then there is a curious aspect regarding the relationship between Italian and dialects. In many regional varieties – from Neapolitan to Venetian, up to Sicilian – the distinction between indicative and subjunctive is not as marked as in standard Italian. This explains why even very educated people, sometimes without realizing it, tend to replace the subjunctive with the indicative. Ultimately, each of us carries within us a sort of “instinctive grammar”, that of the language we learned as a child, and this continues to influence the way we speak Italian.

Some Italian authors, from Carlo Emilio Gadda to Andrea Camilleri, have deliberately used “grammatical errors” in dialogues to reproduce real speech. Camilleri, in particular, in Montalbano’s novels masterfully mixes the correct subjunctive and the popular Sicilian usage (“if I thought about it yesterday…”), transforming the error into linguistic color.