Temo che la balena di cui parli non sopravviva.
I fear the whale you are talking about won't survive.
Breakdown of Temo che la balena di cui parli non sopravviva.
non
not
di
of, from
parlare
to speak / to talk
cui
whom / which
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
temere
to fear
la balena
the whale
sopravvivere
to survive
Questions & Answers about Temo che la balena di cui parli non sopravviva.
Why is the verb at the end sopravviva instead of the normal present tense sopravvive?
Because the sentence starts with Temo che (I fear that). Verbs expressing emotions, doubts, or fears require the dependent clause to use the subjunctive mood. So, the indicative sopravvive becomes the subjunctive sopravviva.
How do we form the present subjunctive for an -ere verb like sopravvivere?
For regular -ere and -ire verbs, you drop the infinitive ending and add -a for the singular pronouns (I, you, he/she/it). Notice how it is the opposite of the normal present tense: -are verbs take an -i ending in the subjunctive, while -ere and -ire verbs take an -a. Because the ending is the same for all three singular persons, we often rely on context or subject pronouns to know who is doing the action.
The English translation says 'won't survive', which is future tense. Why does Italian use the present subjunctive sopravviva?
In Italian, the present subjunctive is frequently used to express a current feeling (like fear or hope) about a future event. While you could sometimes use the future indicative here, using the present subjunctive after a trigger like Temo che is perfectly natural and very common when referring to the near future.
Why do we use di cui instead of just che for 'the whale you are talking about'?
In English, we often leave prepositions at the end of a sentence ('the whale you are talking about'). In Italian, the preposition must come before the relative pronoun. Since the verb is parlare di (to talk about), the di moves before cui (which). Literally, this translates to 'the whale of which you speak.'
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