Breakdown of Penso che la siccità distruggerà il raccolto.
pensare
to think
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
il raccolto
the harvest/crop
distruggere
to destroy
la siccità
the drought
Questions & Answers about Penso che la siccità distruggerà il raccolto.
Why is distruggerà in the future tense instead of the subjunctive? Doesn't penso che require the subjunctive?
You are right that penso che normally triggers the subjunctive. However, Italian doesn't have a 'future subjunctive' tense. When you want to talk about an action that will happen in the future compared to a main verb that requires the subjunctive (like penso), you simply use the regular future indicative tense. So, 'I think that it will destroy' correctly becomes penso che distruggerà.
Could I use the present subjunctive here anyway?
If you used the present subjunctive (Penso che la siccità distrugga il raccolto), the meaning would change to a present action: 'I think the drought is destroying the harvest.' Because we are talking about an event that hasn't happened yet ('will destroy'), the future indicative is required.
Why does siccità have an accent mark on the last letter?
What is the infinitive of distruggerà, and how is the future stem formed?
The infinitive is distruggere (to destroy). For -ere verbs in the future tense, you drop the final -e to get the stem (distrugger-) and then add the regular future endings. Added to the 'it' ending -à, it perfectly forms distruggerà.
Learn Penso che la siccità distruggerà il raccolto and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free