Breakdown of Supponiamo che la donna prenda il treno domani.
la donna
the woman
il treno
the train
prendere
to take
domani
tomorrow
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
supporre
to suppose
Questions & Answers about Supponiamo che la donna prenda il treno domani.
Why do we use the subjunctive form prenda instead of the regular present tense prende?
The verb supporre (to suppose) expresses a belief, opinion, or hypothesis. In Italian, verbs of thinking or supposing trigger the subjunctive mood in the following clause when connected by che.
The English translation says 'will take' tomorrow. Why is prenda in the present subjunctive rather than a future tense?
The present subjunctive in Italian can refer to both present and future events. Because the sentence includes the time word domani (tomorrow), the future meaning is clear. Keep in mind that Italian does not have a 'future subjunctive' tense, so the present subjunctive steps in to do the job here.
Prendere is an -ere verb, so why does the lei (she) form end in an -a here?
In the present subjunctive, the typical vowel endings flip. For regular -ere and -ire verbs, the io, tu, and lui/lei forms all take the -a ending. Conversely, -are verbs take -i endings in these forms.
Can we leave out the word che, just like we often drop 'that' in English?
No, you can never drop che in Italian when connecting a main clause to a dependent clause like this. While in English you can say 'We suppose the woman...', Italian strictly requires Supponiamo che...
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