This page is a consolidated reference for the Italian conjunction system. It pulls together every connector you have met across the Conjunctions group, organizes them by function, and adds the two pieces of information that matter most when you are actually writing or speaking: which mood the conjunction takes, and where in the sentence it can sit. Use it as a map. Each section links out to the dedicated page that treats the connector in depth.
Italian conjunctions are richer and more semantically articulated than English ones. Where English collapses many distinctions into but, since, or so, Italian distributes them across half a dozen connectors with distinct registers, positions, and mood selections. Reading this page through once gives you a panoramic view; coming back to it as a lookup table is what makes the system click.
How conjunctions divide
Italian conjunctions split into two large families based on the relation they create:
- Coordinating conjunctions (congiunzioni coordinative) link elements on equal grammatical footing — neither dominates the other. Marco e Maria, stanco ma felice, studio o lavoro. The clauses they join could each stand alone.
- Subordinating conjunctions (congiunzioni subordinative) make one clause depend on another. Quando arrivi, perché piove, benché sia stanco — none of these can stand alone; each is grammatically attached to a main clause.
Cutting across both families are the correlatives — paired connectors like sia... sia... or o... o... — and the discourse connectors like infatti, insomma, del resto, which organize whole texts rather than linking individual clauses.
Coordinating conjunctions
Coordinators come in five semantic flavors. All take the indicativo (when they connect clauses at all — many connect just nouns, adjectives, or phrases).
| Function | Connectors | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Additive ("and") | e, ed, anche, pure, nonché | e/anche neutral; nonché formal |
| Disjunctive ("or") | o, od, oppure, ovvero | o neutral; oppure stronger; ovvero formal/literary |
| Adversative ("but") | ma, però, tuttavia, invece, anzi, bensì | ma/però neutral; tuttavia formal; bensì literary |
| Conclusive ("so/therefore") | quindi, perciò, dunque, allora, pertanto, ne consegue che | allora informal; pertanto formal |
| Explanatory ("in fact, indeed") | infatti, difatti, in effetti | neutral to formal |
The three workhorses e, o, ma dominate everyday speech and are covered in E, O, Ma: Basic Coordinators. The adversative subtleties — when to choose però over ma, when anzi corrects rather than contrasts — are treated in Adversative Conjunctions.
Marco è stanco ma felice.
Marco is tired but happy.
Non lavoro oggi, quindi possiamo vederci.
I'm not working today, so we can meet up.
Il film non era brutto, anzi mi è piaciuto molto.
The film wasn't bad — on the contrary, I really liked it.
Subordinating conjunctions by function
This is where mood selection becomes critical. The table below is the single piece of information you should commit to memory.
| Function | Indicativo | Congiuntivo |
|---|---|---|
| Causal (because) | perché, poiché, siccome, dato che, visto che, dal momento che, in quanto | per paura che, per timore che, non perché... ma perché |
| Final (so that) | — | perché, affinché, acciocché, in modo che, di modo che |
| Concessive (although) | anche se | benché, sebbene, quantunque, per quanto, nonostante (che), malgrado (che) |
| Temporal (when, while) | quando, mentre, appena, dopo che, finché (as long as), finché non (until — usually ind.), ogni volta che | prima che; finché non (formal/literary option) |
| Conditional (if) | se (real) | se (hypothetical/counterfactual), purché, a patto che, a condizione che, qualora, a meno che (non), nel caso (in cui) |
| Comparative (as, like) | come, così come | come se, quasi che (as if) |
| Consecutive (so... that) | così... che, tanto... che | (when expressing intent or unrealized result) |
| Modal (without, by) | — | senza che |
Notice the architecture: every conjunction expressing a non-fact (purpose, hypothesis, concession, anteriority of an event before another) takes the congiuntivo. Every conjunction expressing an established fact (cause, simultaneity, posteriority) takes the indicativo. The system is logical once you see the underlying principle.
Causal — explaining why
The causal connectors all take the indicativo (with the two specific exceptions in the table above). The choice between them is governed by position and register:
- perché — postposed; the default because. Resto a casa perché piove.
- siccome — preposed only; introduces a known/given cause. Siccome piove, resto a casa.
- poiché — formal preposed equivalent of siccome. Common in writing.
- dato che / visto che — flexible position; conversational given that / seeing as.
- dal momento che — emphatic, faintly bureaucratic since.
- in quanto — formal, postposed; introduces a defining cause.
Siccome non risponde, le ho lasciato un messaggio.
Since she's not answering, I left her a message.
Non posso venire, dato che ho già un altro impegno.
I can't come, given that I already have another commitment.
For the full treatment, see Causal Conjunctions and the advanced reference Advanced Causal Constructions.
Final — expressing purpose
The final (purpose) conjunctions all take the congiuntivo, because purpose describes an outcome that is wished, not an outcome that has happened.
- perché
- cong. — so that (ambiguous with causal perché
- ind.; mood disambiguates)
- cong. — so that (ambiguous with causal perché
- affinché — so that (unambiguous, slightly more formal)
- acciocché — so that (literary/archaic)
- in modo che / di modo che — in such a way that
Ti scrivo affinché tu sappia la mia decisione.
I'm writing so that you know my decision.
Parlo piano perché tu mi capisca.
I'm speaking slowly so that you understand me.
See Final Conjunctions for the dual-meaning perché and the disambiguation rule.
Concessive — although, even though
Concessive conjunctions express a fact that should logically have prevented something but did not. They overwhelmingly take the congiuntivo, with one major exception (anche se).
- benché / sebbene / quantunque — although
- cong.
- per quanto — however much / although
- cong.
- nonostante / malgrado — despite
- cong. (or + noun directly)
- anche se — even if / although
- indicativo (the lone indicative concessive)
Benché sia molto giovane, ha già una grande esperienza.
Although she's very young, she already has great experience.
Anche se piove, esco lo stesso.
Even though it's raining, I'm going out anyway.
The choice between benché (cong.) and anche se (ind.) is one of the classic Italian register/formality decisions. See Concessive Conjunctions and the advanced page Concessive Chains for the full treatment.
Temporal — when, while, until, as soon as
Temporal conjunctions are split: those expressing simultaneity, posteriority, or generic temporal relation take the indicativo; those expressing anteriority (an event that has not yet happened relative to the main clause) take the congiuntivo.
| Connector | Meaning | Mood |
|---|---|---|
| quando | when | indicativo (futuro after main clause future) |
| mentre | while | indicativo |
| appena | as soon as | indicativo (often futuro anteriore) |
| dopo che | after | indicativo |
| ogni volta che | every time that | indicativo |
| finché (= as long as) | as long as | indicativo |
| finché non (= until) | until | indicativo or congiuntivo |
| prima che | before | congiuntivo |
Ti chiamo appena arrivo a casa.
I'll call you as soon as I get home.
Aspetta finché non smette di piovere.
Wait until it stops raining.
Devo finire prima che torni mia madre.
I have to finish before my mother gets back.
The pleonastic non in finché non smette is a famous Italian quirk — it does not negate, it simply marks "until." See Temporal Conjunctions and Pleonastic non.
Conditional — if, provided that, unless
The conditional system in Italian centers on se (if), with a tightly structured three-way mood/tense distinction (the periodi ipotetici). Beyond se, a family of restrictive conditionals takes the congiuntivo.
- se — the basic if. Mood depends on the type of conditional (real, possible, counterfactual). See Conditional Conjunction: Se.
- purché / a patto che / a condizione che — provided that
- qualora — if (formal/should it occur)
- cong.
- a meno che (non) — unless
- cong. (with pleonastic non).
- nel caso (in cui) — in case
- cong.
Vengo con voi, purché torniamo presto.
I'll come with you, provided we get back early.
Qualora si presentassero problemi, contattatemi.
Should problems arise, contact me.
Non firmiamo, a meno che non cambino le condizioni.
We won't sign unless they change the terms.
Correlative pairs
Correlatives are matched pairs of conjunctions that link two equivalent constituents at once.
| Pair | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| sia... sia... (or sia... che...) | both... and... | plural agreement |
| o... o... | either... or... | typically singular agreement |
| né... né... | neither... nor... | requires non in main clause when postposed |
| non solo... ma anche... | not only... but also... | plural agreement |
| tanto... quanto... | as much... as... | balanced quantity/degree |
| più... più... / meno... meno... | the more... the more... | parallel proportional |
Sia Marco sia Maria parlano cinese.
Both Marco and Maria speak Chinese.
Non mangio né carne né pesce.
I eat neither meat nor fish.
For verb agreement subtleties and the full inventory, see Correlative Conjunctions.
Discourse connectors
These are the connectors that organize a whole text or conversation, rather than linking two clauses inside a sentence. They typically appear set off by commas (or pauses in speech) and have a strong pragmatic flavor.
- infatti / difatti — in fact / indeed (confirms the previous statement)
- inoltre — furthermore (adds a reinforcing point)
- dunque / quindi — therefore / so (draws a conclusion)
- allora — so / well (transitional, conversational)
- comunque — anyway / however (sets the previous aside)
- insomma — in short / all in all (summarizes)
- eppure — and yet (concessive turn)
- peraltro / del resto / d'altronde / d'altro canto — moreover / on the other hand / besides
- in fondo — deep down / when all is said and done
Non ha studiato. Infatti è stato bocciato.
He didn't study. In fact, he failed.
Ho lavorato tutto il giorno. Insomma, sono distrutto.
I worked all day. In short, I'm exhausted.
The full register and pragmatic treatment is in Discourse Connectors.
Position rules at a glance
Italian conjunctions are not all equally flexible. Some can sit anywhere; others have hard placement constraints.
| Connector | Position |
|---|---|
| e, o, ma | between conjuncts only (never at the very start of a written sentence in formal prose) |
| perché (causal) | postposed (between clauses) — never at the absolute start of a statement |
| siccome | preposed only (cause-first) |
| però | start of clause, middle, or end |
| infatti, dunque, quindi, allora | typically at the start of the consequence clause; can also be parenthetical |
| nonostante, malgrado | preposed or postposed; can take a noun directly (no che) |
| anche, pure | before the focus item (anche io = I too; pure tu = you too) |
Comparison with English
A few high-leverage comparisons that explain why English speakers stumble in specific places:
- English but maps onto half a dozen Italian connectors. Ma is the neutral default; però adds a slight rhetorical pause; invece contrasts two situations; anzi corrects upward; bensì is literary; tuttavia is formal.
- English since is two words in one — a temporal since (since 2010) and a causal since (since you're here). Italian splits them: temporal da, causal siccome / dato che / poiché.
- English so is also two: consequence so (I'm tired, so I'm going to bed) maps to quindi / perciò / dunque; purpose so that maps to affinché / perché
- cong.
- English if is one word; Italian se is three syntactic patterns depending on the type of hypothesis (real, possible, counterfactual). See Conditional Conjunction: Se.
- English though / although / even though / even if all map onto a Italian system that hinges on the cong./ind. split (benché
- cong. vs. anche se
- ind.).
- cong. vs. anche se
Sono stanco, però vengo lo stesso.
I'm tired, but I'm coming anyway.
Marco lavora; Maria, invece, studia.
Marco works; Maria, on the other hand, studies.
Common mistakes
❌ Perché piove, resto a casa.
Wrong as a statement — perché cannot front a causal clause.
✅ Siccome piove, resto a casa.
Use siccome (or poiché / dato che) when the cause is preposed.
❌ Anche se sia tardi, telefonale.
Wrong — anche se always takes the indicativo.
✅ Anche se è tardi, telefonale.
Correct — indicativo with anche se.
❌ Benché è giovane, è molto maturo.
Wrong — benché requires the congiuntivo.
✅ Benché sia giovane, è molto maturo.
Correct — sia (cong. presente) after benché.
❌ Voglio venire prima che parti.
Wrong — prima che takes the congiuntivo.
✅ Voglio venire prima che tu parta.
Correct — congiuntivo presente after prima che.
❌ Resto a casa siccome piove.
Wrong — siccome cannot follow the main clause.
✅ Resto a casa perché piove. / Siccome piove, resto a casa.
Postposed needs perché; preposed is fine with siccome.
Where to go next
Each conjunction family has a dedicated page that drills the connector with full examples and edge cases. Start with the family most relevant to what you are reading or writing right now:
- Coordinators: E, O, Ma and Adversative Conjunctions.
- Causal subordinators: Causal Conjunctions.
- Concessive subordinators: Concessive Conjunctions.
- Conditional se: Conditional Conjunction: Se.
- Correlative pairs: Correlative Conjunctions.
- Discourse-level: Discourse Connectors.
The deepest treatments — combining moods across multiple subordinate clauses, mixing concession with conditionality, embedding causes inside conditionals — live in the Complex Grammar group: Causal Advanced, Concessive Chains, Conditional Chains, Mixing Clause Types.
Now practice Italian
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Italian Conjunctions: OverviewA2 — A map of the Italian conjunction system — coordinating, subordinating, causal, final, concessive, temporal, conditional — with the indicativo/congiuntivo split and links to every major subpage.
- E, O, Ma: Basic CoordinatorsA1 — The three workhorse coordinating conjunctions of Italian — e (and), o (or), ma (but) — with the euphonic ed/od variants and modern usage rules.
- Causal Conjunctions: perché, poiché, siccome, dato cheB1 — How Italian expresses *because* and *since* — perché, poiché, siccome, dato che, visto che — all with the indicativo, plus the position rules and the famous causal/final ambiguity of perché.
- Concessive Conjunctions: benché, sebbene, nonostanteB1 — The Italian concessive system — benché, sebbene, nonostante, malgrado with the congiuntivo across all four tenses, plus anche se with the indicativo. Position rules and the central indicative-vs-subjunctive split.
- Conditional Conjunction: SeA2 — How Italian uses se to introduce real, hypothetical, and counterfactual conditions, plus the secondary use of se for indirect yes/no questions.
- Correlative ConjunctionsB1 — The full set of Italian paired conjunctions — sia... sia, o... o, né... né, non solo... ma anche, sia... che, e... e — with their agreement rules, register notes, and the choices English speakers most often get wrong.
- Discourse Connectors: quindi, perciò, dunque, alloraA2 — How Italian marks consequence and reformulation between sentences — quindi, perciò, dunque, pertanto, allora — with their register differences and conversational functions.
- Coordination: Linking Clauses on Equal FootingA2 — The coordinating conjunctions of Italian — additive (e), adversative (ma, però, anzi, bensì, invece), disjunctive (o, oppure), conclusive (quindi, perciò, dunque) — and the correlative pairs that link two equivalent constituents at once.