Breakdown of Pensavo che la cena sarebbe costata il doppio.
essere
to be
costare
to cost
la cena
the dinner
pensare
to think
Questions & Answers about Pensavo che la cena sarebbe costata il doppio.
Why is there an article before doppio?
In Italian, multiplicative words like doppio (double) and triplo (triple) act as masculine nouns when they mean 'twice as much' or 'three times as much'. Because it functions as a noun here, it requires the definite article il.
Why does the sentence use the past conditional (sarebbe costata) instead of a future tense?
This is called the 'future in the past'. When you describe a past thought (Pensavo) about an event that was in the future at that time, Italian requires the past conditional. While English just says 'would cost', Italian essentially says 'would have cost'.
Why is the auxiliary verb essere (sarebbe) used instead of avere (avrebbe)?
Doesn't the phrase pensare che usually require the subjunctive mood?
Usually, yes! If you were thinking about an event happening at the same time or earlier, you would use the subjunctive. But because the dinner's cost was a future event compared to when you were thinking about it, the 'future in the past' rule overrides the subjunctive, requiring the past conditional instead.