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### Sticking to the Indicative

When wrestling with a difficult translation, you will often need to guess the meaning of an obscure phrase. In Italian, expressing doubt or uncertainty usually triggers the subjunctive mood. However, simple adverbs of probability like *forse* (perhaps/maybe) and *probabilmente* (probably) let you skip the complex grammar and stick to the standard indicative mood.

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### The Many Sides of "Magari"

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The word *magari* is incredibly versatile in spoken Italian. You might already know it as an exclamation meaning "I wish!" or "If only!" (which requires the subjunctive). But when used simply as a casual synonym for *forse* to say "maybe" or "perhaps", it follows the exact same rules as the other probability adverbs: it takes the normal indicative mood.

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Probability adverbs with the indicative (forse, magari)

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 translator	il traduttore
obscure	oscuro
The translator is probably reading an obscure text.	Probabilmente il traduttore legge un testo oscuro.
the interpretation (f)	l'interpretazione
literal	letterale
Maybe this interpretation is literal, even if it seems strange.	Forse quest'interpretazione è letterale, anche se sembra strana.
the reviewer	il revisore
the draft	la bozza
maybe, perhaps (often expressing a wish or desire)	magari
metaphorical	metaforico
The reviewer must check the draft, perhaps there is a metaphorical meaning.	Il revisore deve controllare la bozza, magari c'è un significato metaforico.
figurative	figurato
Could you explain this figurative sense? Maybe the translator does not understand it.	Potresti spiegare questo senso figurato? Forse il traduttore non lo capisce.
the translation	la traduzione
The literal translation probably makes no sense, even if I understand the text.	Probabilmente la traduzione letterale non ha senso, anche se capisco il testo.
archaic	arcaico
Maybe the expression is archaic, so the reviewer does not understand it.	Magari l'espressione è arcaica, quindi il revisore non la capisce.
You must read the draft again, perhaps the obscure concept has a figurative meaning.	Devi leggere di nuovo la bozza, forse il concetto oscuro ha un significato figurato.
The interpretation is metaphorical, but could you use the archaic word? Maybe it is better.	L'interpretazione è metaforica, ma potresti usare la parola arcaica? Forse è meglio.
Could you send the translation to the reviewer? He probably has to read it today.	Potresti mandare la traduzione al revisore? Probabilmente deve leggerla oggi.
Maybe the translator is right, even if the metaphorical meaning is difficult.	Magari il traduttore ha ragione, anche se il significato metaforico è difficile.
maybe, it may be	può darsi
He may arrive late tonight.	Può darsi che arrivi tardi stasera.
Will he come too? Maybe.	Verrà anche lui? Può darsi.

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