Breakdown of Ho sostenuto che avevo nascosto l'arma nel cassetto.
avere
to have
in
in / made of (material)
il cassetto
the drawer
nascondere
to hide
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
sostenere
to claim
l'arma
the weapon (f)
Questions & Answers about Ho sostenuto che avevo nascosto l'arma nel cassetto.
Why do we use the trapassato prossimo (past perfect) avevo nascosto in this sentence?
This is an example of indirect speech. The original direct quote was likely Ho nascosto l'arma (I hid the weapon), using the passato prossimo. Because the reporting verb (Ho sostenuto) is in the past, the reported action shifts one step further back into the past, becoming the trapassato prossimo (avevo nascosto).
Doesn't sostenere usually mean "to support"?
Yes, it often means "to support" physically or financially. However, in the context of a discussion, legal statement, or argument, sostenere means "to claim", "to maintain", or "to argue" a point.
Since "claiming" something can be subjective, shouldn't sostenere che trigger the subjunctive mood?
Not automatically. When sostenere is used to firmly declare a fact or report what someone stated as a certainty, it usually takes the indicative mood (like avevo nascosto here). You might see it with the subjunctive if the statement is framed as a highly debatable opinion, but the indicative is completely standard for reporting firm statements like this.
What is the infinitive form of nascosto?
It is the irregular past participle of nascondere (to hide). Many Italian verbs ending in -dere have irregular past participles ending in -sto, such as chiedere (chiesto) and rispondere (risposto).
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