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Lavora senza che il direttore dia il consenso.

Lavora senza che il direttore dia il consenso.
He works without the director giving consent.
From Lesson 228:Subjunctive with negative conjunctions (senza che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Lavora senza che il direttore dia il consenso.

Why do we use the subjunctive verb dia here?
The phrase senza che (without) is a conjunction that always triggers the subjunctive mood. It introduces a situation or condition that isn't actually happening, which in Italian requires the subjunctive.
Could we just use senza plus the infinitive, like senza dare, instead of senza che?
Not in this sentence, because there are two different subjects. The person working is "he" or "she" (lavora), while the person giving consent is the director (il direttore). You only use senza + infinitive when the subject is the same for both actions (for example, Lavora senza dare il consenso would mean "He works without giving [his own] consent").
What verb is dia, and why does it look so unusual?
Dia is the present subjunctive form of dare (to give) for the third-person singular (he/she/it). The verb dare is highly irregular, so its subjunctive forms (dia, dia, dia, diamo, diate, diano) don't follow the normal spelling patterns and just have to be memorized.
Why is there an il before consenso when the English translation is just "giving consent"?
Italian uses definite articles (like il) much more often than English, especially with abstract nouns or standard expressions. The natural way to say "to give consent" in Italian is to use the fixed phrase dare il consenso (literally "to give the consent").

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