Breakdown of Sospetto che Marco legga il mio diario.
Marco
Marco
mio
my
leggere
to read
il diario
diary
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
sospettare
to suspect
Questions & Answers about Sospetto che Marco legga il mio diario.
Why is legga used here instead of legge?
Sospettare (to suspect) expresses doubt or a personal belief. Verbs of opinion, belief, and doubt trigger the subjunctive mood in the clause that follows che. That is why we must use the subjunctive form legga rather than the standard present indicative legge.
Why does an "-ere" verb like leggere end in "-a" here?
In the present subjunctive, regular -ere and -ire verbs take an -a ending for all three singular subjects (io, tu, lui/lei). A helpful trick for the present subjunctive is to remember that the vowels swap compared to the normal present tense: -are verbs take -i, while -ere and -ire verbs take -a.
Could I use the infinitive and say Sospetto leggere...?
Not in this sentence, because the subjects are different: I am suspecting, but Marco is doing the reading. You only use the infinitive (usually combined with di, as in Sospetto di leggere...) when the subject of both actions is exactly the same person.
Just as a refresher, why do we need il in il mio diario?
In Italian, you almost always need to include a definite article (like il, la, i, or le) right before a possessive adjective like mio. The most common exception is for singular, close family members (like mio padre), but for everyday objects like a diary, the article is strictly required.
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