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### "If Only!": Past Wishes

In Italian, you can express deep regret or an unfulfilled wish about the past by using the past perfect subjunctive (*congiuntivo trapassato*) on its own.

Instead of starting the sentence with *se* (if), drop it entirely and start the exclamation directly with the subjunctive verb. This translates perfectly to the English "If only...!"

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### Missed Connections and Mishaps

This standalone subjunctive is extremely common when bemoaning travel mishaps.

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### Wishing Things Had Not Happened

To wish that something *hadn't* happened, simply place **non** at the beginning of the exclamation.

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Remember that if the verb takes *essere* as its auxiliary, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number.

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Past wishes (exclamative subjunctive)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, una)

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
the alarm clock	la sveglia
If only the alarm clock had rung!	Avesse almeno suonato la sveglia!
damned	maledetto
If only I had set that damned alarm clock!	Avessi messo quella maledetta sveglia!
the GPS	il navigatore
If only the GPS had worked!	Avesse funzionato il navigatore!
to consult	consultare
If only we had consulted the GPS earlier!	Avessimo consultato il navigatore prima!
the layover	lo scalo
If only I had checked the layover schedule!	Avessi controllato l'orario dello scalo!
If only we had taken the flight with the layover!	Avessimo preso il volo con lo scalo!
to take (a road)	imboccare
the detour	la deviazione
If only I hadn't taken that damned detour!	Non avessi imboccato quella maledetta deviazione!
stuck in traffic	imbottigliato
If only there had been a detour! Now we are stuck in traffic.	Ci fosse stata una deviazione! Ora siamo imbottigliati.
to get a flat tire / to pierce / to make a hole in	bucare
If only we had not taken that street! We got a flat tire.	Non avessimo imboccato quella strada! Abbiamo bucato.
If only I hadn't gotten a flat tire on the highway!	Non avessi bucato in autostrada!
the insurance (f)	l'assicurazione
If only we had bought the insurance two days ago!	Avessimo comprato l'assicurazione due giorni fa!
If only I had paid for the insurance! I really regret it.	Avessi pagato l'assicurazione! Me ne pento veramente.
If only I had consulted the GPS!	Avessi consultato il navigatore!
If only we hadn't gotten stuck in traffic!	Non fossimo rimasti imbottigliati nel traffico!

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