Learn Italian: Credo che questo ecosistema cambierà senza la pioggia. - I believe that this ecosystem will change without the rain.

Credo che questo ecosistema cambierà senza la pioggia.

I believe that this ecosystem will change without the rain.

Breakdown of Credo che questo ecosistema cambierà senza la pioggia.

Questions & Answers about Credo che questo ecosistema cambierà senza la pioggia.

Why is cambierà in the future tense instead of the subjunctive? Doesn't credo che trigger the subjunctive?

You are right that credo che (I believe that) normally requires the subjunctive. However, when the action in the dependent clause happens in the future compared to the main clause, Italian uses the future indicative. Since the ecosystem will change later, we use the future tense cambierà.

Why do we use questo with ecosistema if it ends in an -a? Shouldn't it be questa?

Ecosistema is a masculine noun, even though it ends in -a. Many Italian words of Greek origin ending in -ma are masculine, such as il problema, il sistema, and il clima. Because it is masculine, it takes the masculine adjective questo.

Why does the Italian sentence say la pioggia (the rain) when the English translation just says "without rain"?

In Italian, definite articles like la are used much more often than in English, especially for general concepts, abstract ideas, and elements of nature. When talking about rain in a general sense, Italian requires the article, making it la pioggia.

Could I say senza di la pioggia?