Breakdown of Voglio che la mia amica adotti un cane.
un
a / an (masculine)
il cane
the dog
l'amica
the female friend (f)
mio
my
Questions & Answers about Voglio che la mia amica adotti un cane.
Why does the Italian sentence use "che ... adotti" instead of an infinitive like "to adopt"?
In English, we say "I want my friend to adopt." But in Italian, when the person wanting the action (I) is different from the person doing the action (my friend), you cannot use the infinitive. You must use che (that) followed by a new clause in the subjunctive mood. You only use the infinitive if the subjects are the same, like Voglio adottare un cane (I want to adopt a dog).
Why does adotti end in an -i if it's an -are verb referring to a "she" (la mia amica)?
In the regular present tense, an -are verb for lui/lei (he/she) ends in -a (like lei adotta). But the present subjunctive flips the endings! For -are verbs in the subjunctive, the io, tu, and lui/lei forms all end in -i. Therefore, adotti is the correct 3rd person singular subjunctive form.
Would a verb like "sperare" (to hope) work the exact same way here?
Why do we include the article la in la mia amica? Don't we sometimes drop it with possessives?