Breakdown of Lavorano insieme, affinché il progetto sia un successo.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
insieme
together / together with
il progetto
the project
lavorare
to work
il successo
the success
affinché
so that / in order that
Questions & Answers about Lavorano insieme, affinché il progetto sia un successo.
Why do we use sia instead of è here?
The conjunction affinché (so that / in order that) expresses a goal or purpose. In Italian, conjunctions of purpose always require the subjunctive mood because they describe an intended outcome, not a guaranteed fact. Therefore, we use sia, the present subjunctive of essere, instead of the indicative è.
Could I use perché instead of affinché in this sentence?
Yes, you can! When perché means 'so that' or 'in order that,' it acts just like affinché and also requires the subjunctive. affinché is a bit more formal and clearly marks purpose without any ambiguity, but both are perfectly correct here: ...perché il progetto sia un successo.
Would we still use affinché if they were working together so that they (themselves) could succeed?
No. You only use affinché (or perché meaning 'so that') when the subject of the second half of the sentence is different from the first. Here, 'they' work so that 'the project' succeeds. If the subjects were the same (e.g., 'They work together in order to be successful'), you would just use per + the infinitive: Lavorano insieme per avere successo.
Is it more common to say sia un successo or abbia successo?
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