Learn Italian: Temo che l'inquinamento provocherà danni peggiori. - I fear that the pollution will cause worse damage.

Temo che l'inquinamento provocherà danni peggiori.

I fear that the pollution will cause worse damage.

Breakdown of Temo che l'inquinamento provocherà danni peggiori.

that (conjunction introducing a clause)

temere

to fear

Questions & Answers about Temo che l'inquinamento provocherà danni peggiori.

Temo che usually triggers the subjunctive. Why is provocherà in the future indicative here?

Great spot! While verbs expressing fear (like temere) usually require the subjunctive in the dependent clause, Italian does not have a future subjunctive tense. When the action in the dependent clause happens in the future (posteriority), we just use the regular future indicative.

Why is there an "h" in provocherà?

The verb is provocare (to cause). To keep the hard "c" sound (like a "k") when conjugating verbs ending in -care or -gare in the future tense, we add an "h" before the "e". Without it, the "c" before "e" would make a soft "ch" sound.

Why is it danni peggiori (plural) when the English translation says "worse damage" (singular)?

In English, "damage" is usually an uncountable noun and stays singular. In Italian, il danno is countable. When talking about widespread harm like this, Italian naturally uses the plural form i danni.

How does the adjective peggiori work here?

Peggiore is the irregular comparative form of cattivo (bad), meaning "worse". Since singular adjectives ending in "-e" always change to "-i" in the plural, it becomes peggiori to agree with the plural noun danni.