Word
Speravo che lui comprasse un accendino, ma ha comprato un cerotto.
Meaning
I hoped that he would buy a lighter, but he bought a plaster.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Speravo che lui comprasse un accendino, ma ha comprato un cerotto.
lui
he
un
a / an (masculine)
ma
but
comprare
to buy
Questions & Answers about Speravo che lui comprasse un accendino, ma ha comprato un cerotto.
Why is comprasse used here instead of a regular past tense?
The verb sperare (to hope) triggers the subjunctive mood because it expresses a wish or emotion. Since the main verb speravo is in the past tense, it forces the following verb into the past as well, specifically the imperfect subjunctive (comprasse).
Why does the English translation say "would buy", but the Italian uses the imperfect subjunctive (comprasse)?
Why did they include the pronoun lui here? Doesn't Italian usually drop the subject?
Yes, but in the imperfect subjunctive, the forms for io and tu are identical (comprassi), and the lui/lei form is very close (comprasse). Including lui makes it instantly clear who you were hoping would do the buying.
Why does the second half of the sentence use the normal past tense (ha comprato) instead of the subjunctive?