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È strano che lui non si sia lamentato con l'assistenza.

È strano che lui non si sia lamentato con l'assistenza.
It is strange that he hasn't complained to the support.
From Lesson 188:The past subjunctive (abbia fatto, sia andato)·Italian

Questions & Answers about È strano che lui non si sia lamentato con l'assistenza.

Why do we use the past subjunctive (sia lamentato) here instead of the present subjunctive?
The main clause (È strano) is in the present tense, but the action of complaining happened in the past. To show that an action happened before a present-tense main clause that triggers the subjunctive, we use the past subjunctive (congiuntivo passato).
Why is the auxiliary verb sia instead of abbia?
The verb for "to complain" is lamentarsi, which is a reflexive verb. In Italian, all reflexive verbs use essere as their auxiliary in compound tenses like the past subjunctive. Therefore, we use the present subjunctive of essere (sia) to build it.
Since we used a form of essere, does lamentato have to agree with the subject?
Yes! Whenever a compound tense is formed with essere, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since the subject is lui, lamentato ends in -o for masculine singular. If the subject were lei, it would be si sia lamentata.
Why does Italian use con in con l'assistenza when the English translation says "to the support"?
In English, you complain "to" someone, but the Italian verb lamentarsi requires the preposition con. You literally complain "with" someone (lamentarsi con qualcuno).

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