Word
Volevo che il consulente mi dicesse come investire il mio reddito.
Meaning
I wanted the consultant to tell me how to invest my income.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Volevo che il consulente mi dicesse come investire il mio reddito.
mio
my
come
how
volere
to want
mi
to me
Questions & Answers about Volevo che il consulente mi dicesse come investire il mio reddito.
Why is the verb dicesse instead of following the normal rules for -ire verbs?
Dicesse is the imperfect subjunctive of dire. While dire looks like an -ire verb, its stem actually comes from the older Latin verb dicere. That is why its stem in the imperfect subjunctive is dic- rather than just d-. You add the regular -ere subjunctive endings to dic-, giving you dicesse.
Why are we using the imperfect subjunctive (dicesse) here rather than the present subjunctive (dica)?
The main verb Volevo (I wanted) expresses a desire, which requires the subjunctive in the che clause. Because Volevo is in a past tense (the imperfect indicative), the rules of tense sequence dictate that the verb in the dependent clause must also shift to the past. Therefore, we use the imperfect subjunctive dicesse.
Why is investire in the infinitive here?
After question words like come (how), dove (where), or cosa (what), Italian often uses the infinitive directly, just like we do in English with phrases like 'how to invest' or 'where to go'. You do not need an extra preposition here.
Why does the pronoun mi come before dicesse instead of attaching to it?