Breakdown of Ero convinto che il mostro si nascondesse sotto il letto.
essere
to be
il letto
bed
nascondersi
to hide (oneself)
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
sotto
under, below
convinto
convinced
il mostro
the monster
Questions & Answers about Ero convinto che il mostro si nascondesse sotto il letto.
Why is si nascondesse in the imperfect subjunctive here instead of the present subjunctive?
The main clause, Ero convinto (I was convinced), is in a past tense. Because the action of hiding was happening at the exact same time as your belief in the past, the rules for the sequence of tenses require the imperfect subjunctive. If the main clause were in the present (Sono convinto), you would use the present subjunctive (si nasconda).
If I am 'convinced', shouldn't that be a certainty and use the indicative instead of the subjunctive?
Why do we use the reflexive si nascondesse instead of just nascondesse?
When a person or thing is hiding themselves, Italian uses the reflexive verb nascondersi. If you used the non-reflexive nascondere, the sentence would feel incomplete because you would need to specify what object the monster was physically hiding.
Why is it sotto il letto and not sotto al letto?
When the preposition sotto (under) is followed by a noun, it simply takes the definite article without needing a or di. You might hear sotto al in very informal spoken Italian, but sotto il letto is the correct standard form.
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