Breakdown of Cerco un pub che serva birra artigianale.
un
a / an (masculine)
cercare
to look for
che
who, that (relative pronoun)
servire
to serve (food or drinks)
il pub
the pub
la birra
the beer
artigianale
craft / artisanal
Questions & Answers about Cerco un pub che serva birra artigianale.
Why is serva in the subjunctive here instead of the regular present tense serve?
In this sentence, you are looking for a pub that fits a certain description, but you don't know if it actually exists yet. Because the pub is an undefined, desired thing (indicated by the indefinite article in un pub), the descriptive clause starting with che requires the subjunctive serva. If you were talking about a specific pub you already knew existed, you would use the indicative: Conosco un pub che serve... (I know a pub that serves...).
Servire is an -ire verb. Why does serva end in -a? Doesn't -a usually belong to -are verbs?
In the present subjunctive mood, the vowel endings "flip" from what you are used to in the regular present tense (the indicative). For -ire and -ere verbs, all three singular forms (io, tu, lui/lei) end in -a (hence, che serva). Meanwhile, -are verbs take an -i ending in the singular subjunctive.
Why is there no article before birra artigianale? Don't we usually need one in Italian?
Often, yes! But just like in English, Italian can drop the article when referring to a general, unspecified quantity of an uncountable noun. Because the pub serves craft beer in general, no article is needed. If you were talking about a specific beer, you'd use the article (e.g., la birra artigianale di questa città - the craft beer of this city).
How does artigianale translate to "craft"?
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