Learn Italian: Speriamo che il raccolto diventi maturo presto.

Speriamo che il raccolto diventi maturo presto.

We hope the harvest gets ripe soon.

Breakdown of Speriamo che il raccolto diventi maturo presto.

presto

early / soon / quickly, hurry

that (conjunction introducing a clause)

Questions & Answers about Speriamo che il raccolto diventi maturo presto.

Why do we use diventi instead of the regular present tense diventa?

The phrase speriamo che (we hope that) expresses a hope or wish. In Italian, expressing hopes, doubts, or desires triggers the subjunctive mood in the second part of the sentence.

How do we form the present subjunctive for a regular -are verb like diventare?

For regular -are verbs, you drop the -are ending and add -i for all three singular subjects (I, you, he/she/it). This means io diventi, tu diventi, and lui/lei diventi are all identical! In this sentence, the subject is il raccolto (it).

The English translation says the harvest gets ripe. Which Italian word means gets here?

That would be diventi, from the verb diventare (to become). English speakers often use the verb to get to describe a change in state, like getting tired, getting old, or getting ripe. In Italian, you must use diventare for these transitions.

I thought presto meant early. Does it also mean soon?

Yes, presto is used for both early and soon. You can easily tell them apart by context. If you wake up at dawn, you wake up presto (early). If you hope something happens in the near future, like a harvest ripening, it happens presto (soon).