Breakdown of Speravo che lui comprasse un accendino, ma ha comprato un cerotto.
lui
he
un
a / an (masculine)
ma
but
comprare
to buy
sperare
to hope
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
l'accendino
the lighter (m)
il cerotto
the plaster
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?
The subjunctive is only triggered by the subjective "I hoped that" in the first clause. The second clause (ma ha comprato un cerotto) states an objective fact about what actually happened, so it returns to the standard indicative mood (passato prossimo).
Is there an easy way to remember the word accendino?
Yes! It comes from the verb accendere, which means "to light" (like a fire) or "to turn on" (like a lamp or TV). By adding the diminutive suffix -ino, it literally translates to a "little lighter".
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