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### The Subjunctive of Ignorance

In Italian, declaring what you know (**sapere che**) states a fact and takes the indicative mood. But declaring what you *do not* know (**non sapere che**) introduces doubt. Because of this uncertainty, negative declarations of knowledge trigger the **subjunctive** mood.

Waking up in a hospital with amnesia is the perfect scenario to practice expressing this lack of knowledge.

When your main verb is in the past—like **non sapevo che** (I didn't know that)—the dependent clause uses the imperfect subjunctive to describe a simultaneous event:

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If the unknown event happened *before* your state of ignorance, use the pluperfect (*trapassato*) subjunctive:

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### Present Tense

The same rule applies in the present tense. **Non so che** (I do not know that) triggers the present subjunctive:

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Remember: this rule applies specifically to *negative* knowledge. Once the amnesia wears off and you know what is happening (**so che...** / **sapevo che...**), certainty returns, and you switch back to the indicative mood.

Negative knowledge (non sapere che)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to admit to hospital	ricoverare
amnesia	l'amnesia
I didn't know that they had admitted me to the hospital because of the amnesia.	Non sapevo che mi avessero ricoverato in ospedale a causa dell'amnesia.
groggy	stordito
bandage	la benda
I was groggy and didn't know that that bandage was on my head.	Ero stordito e non sapevo che quella benda fosse sulla mia testa.
bewilderment	lo smarrimento
The doctor didn't know that my bewilderment was so deep.	Il medico non sapeva che il mio smarrimento fosse così profondo.
You should explain everything to me; I didn't know that they had admitted me.	Dovresti spiegarmi tutto; non sapevo che mi avessero ricoverato.
stranger	lo sconosciuto
Until two days ago, I didn't know that that stranger was my brother.	Fino a due giorni fa, non sapevo che quello sconosciuto fosse mio fratello.
piece (of a puzzle)	il tassello
to resurface	riaffiorare
I didn't know that every piece of my past could resurface so quickly.	Non sapevo che ogni tassello del mio passato potesse riaffiorare così velocemente.
IV drip	la flebo
I was too groggy and I didn't know that the nurse had changed the bandage and the IV drip.	Ero troppo stordito e non sapevo che l'infermiere avesse cambiato la benda e la flebo.
She is still groggy and doesn't know that her own memories are about to resurface.	È ancora stordita e non sa che i propri ricordi siano sul punto di riaffiorare.
The patient didn't know that that woman was his own wife.	Il paziente non sapeva che quella donna fosse la propria moglie.
You should rest, even if you didn't know that this amnesia was so severe.	Dovresti riposare, anche se non sapevi che questa amnesia fosse così grave.
dazed	frastornato
I am dazed and I do not know that this stranger is the doctor.	Sono frastornato e non so che questo sconosciuto sia il medico.
I do not know that the IV is an important piece, I am dazed by the bewilderment.	Non so che la flebo sia un tassello importante, sono frastornato dallo smarrimento.