Learn Hardcore Italian: Avremmo scelto un fiocco rosso, se ce ne fosse stato uno nella scatola. - We would have chosen a red ribbon if there had been one in the box.

avremmo scelto is the condizionale composto (conditional perfect), used to express an action that would have taken place in the past under certain conditions. sceglieremmo is the simple (present) conditional (“we would choose”) for present or future hypotheticals, and sceglievamo is the imperfect indicative (“we were choosing” or “used to choose”), neither of which conveys “would have chosen” in the past.

Why is fosse stato used in the if-clause instead of indicative or conditional forms like era stato or sarebbe stato?

In Italian, counterfactual (unreal) conditions require the subjunctive in the se clause. For past unreal scenarios you use the pluperfect subjunctive—fosse stato. era stato (past indicative) states a fact, and sarebbe stato (conditional perfect) cannot appear in a se clause.

What do ce and ne mean in se ce ne fosse stato uno?

ce is a reduced form of ci, marking existence or location (“there in the box”), and ne is a partitive pronoun meaning “of them” (or “of it”). Together ce ne fosse stato uno literally means “if there had been one of them there.”

Could we say se ci fosse stato un fiocco rosso nella scatola instead?

Yes, that version is grammatically correct: se ci fosse stato un fiocco rosso nella scatola simply means “if there had been a red ribbon in the box.” But ce ne fosse stato uno puts a partitive focus—“one of such ribbons”—and refers back to previously implied or mentioned ribbons.

Why do we use un fiocco and not uno fiocco?

In Italian, the indefinite article un is used before masculine nouns starting with a vowel or most consonants. uno is reserved for masculine nouns beginning with z, s + consonant, ps, pn, x, y, or gn. Since fiocco starts with f, you use un fiocco.

Why does ci change to ce before ne?

For reasons of euphony, ci often becomes ce when followed by another pronoun such as ne. So ci ne contracts to ce ne.

Why is the adjective rosso placed after fiocco?

In Italian, most adjectives follow the noun. Putting rosso after fiocco is the neutral, unmarked order. Placing it before—un rosso fiocco—would add emphasis or convey a stylistic nuance.

Which type of conditional does this sentence represent, and how would it translate into English?

This is a past counterfactual conditional (often called the third conditional in English). It describes what would have happened in the past if a certain condition had been met. A natural translation is: “We would have chosen a red ribbon if there had been one in the box.”

Why is fosse (third person) used instead of fossi (first person) in fosse stato uno?

The implicit subject of fosse here is uno (one ribbon), which is third person singular. Therefore the pluperfect subjunctive form fosse stato agrees with that subject. Fossi would be the first person singular form and wouldn’t match uno.