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E se il clone contattasse lo scienziato?

E se il clone contattasse lo scienziato?
What if the clone contacted the scientist?
From Lesson 194:The imperfect subjunctive (-assi, -essi, -issi)·Italian

Breakdown of E se il clone contattasse lo scienziato?

e
and
se
if
lo scienziato
the scientist
contattare
to contact
il clone
the clone

Questions & Answers about E se il clone contattasse lo scienziato?

Why do we use the imperfect subjunctive verb contattasse in this sentence?
The phrase E se (What if) sets up a hypothetical situation. When you ask a "what if" question about a possibility in the present or future, Italian requires the imperfect subjunctive. Notice that English does something similar by using the past tense "contacted" for a hypothetical present!
How exactly is contattasse formed from the verb contattare?
Contattare (to contact) is a regular -are verb. To form the imperfect subjunctive for the third person singular (he/she/it), you take the infinitive, drop the final -re, and add -sse. This gives you contatta + sse = contattasse.
Why does the sentence use lo instead of il before scienziato?
Masculine nouns that start with an "s" followed by another consonant (like the "sc" in scienziato) require the definite article lo instead of il. This is a basic pronunciation rule you might remember, which also applies to words starting with "z", "gn", or "ps".
Can E se always be used to mean "What if"?
Yes! Literally meaning "And if", e se is the standard way to say "What if..." in Italian. Just remember that if the "what if" introduces a hypothetical or unlikely scenario, it needs to be followed by the imperfect subjunctive, just like in this sentence.

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