Breakdown of Sembra che il corriere abbia perso il mio pacco; sono deluso.
essere
to be
avere
to have
mio
my
il pacco
the package
perdere
to lose, to miss
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
sembrare
to seem
il corriere
the courier
deluso
disappointed
Questions & Answers about Sembra che il corriere abbia perso il mio pacco; sono deluso.
Why is abbia perso in the past subjunctive here, rather than the present subjunctive?
The trigger Sembra che (It seems that) is in the present tense, but the action of losing the package happened in the past. To show that the dependent event happened before the present-tense main clause, we must use the past subjunctive.
How is the past subjunctive formed in abbia perso?
It is built just like the present perfect (passato prossimo), but the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the present subjunctive. Because perdere takes avere, we use its present subjunctive form abbia followed by the past participle perso.
Is perso an irregular past participle?
Yes, perso is the irregular past participle of perdere (to lose). You might occasionally see the regular-looking form perduto, but perso is much more common in everyday modern Italian.
Why do we need the article il in il mio pacco?
In Italian, you almost always need a definite article before a possessive adjective, like in il mio pacco. The main exception is for singular family members (like mio padre), but for everyday objects, the article is required.
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