Breakdown of In teatro si spera sempre che il pubblico non faccia rumore.
non
not
in
in / made of (material)
sempre
always
il rumore
the noise
fare
to do / to make
il teatro
the theater
si
one (impersonal)
sperare
to hope
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
il pubblico
the audience
Questions & Answers about In teatro si spera sempre che il pubblico non faccia rumore.
Why do we use faccia here instead of the normal present tense fa?
Faccia is the present subjunctive form of the highly irregular verb fare (to make/do). We use the subjunctive here because the main verb is sperare (to hope). Verbs of hope, desire, and emotion trigger the subjunctive in the following clause when the subject changes (from "one" to "the audience").
Since il pubblico means "the audience" (many people), shouldn't the verb be plural?
No, because il pubblico is a collective noun. Even though it refers to a group of people, the word itself is grammatically singular. Therefore, it takes the third-person singular subjunctive form, faccia, rather than the plural facciano.
What exactly does si spera mean, and who is doing the hoping?
This is the impersonal si construction. It doesn't refer to one specific person. Instead, it translates to "one hopes," "people hope," or "we hope" in a general sense. It's the standard Italian way to express a general expectation.
Why is it in teatro and not nel teatro?
With certain common public locations, Italian uses the simple preposition in (without a definite article) when referring to the general activity of being there rather than a specific building. You do this with in banca (at the bank), in farmacia (at the pharmacy), and in teatro (at the theater).
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