Breakdown of Pensavo che tu avessi guardato le previsioni.
tu
you (singular)
guardare
to look at / to watch
pensare
to think
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
Questions & Answers about Pensavo che tu avessi guardato le previsioni.
Why do we use the Pluperfect Subjunctive (avessi guardato) here instead of the Imperfect Subjunctive?
The main verb pensavo is in a past tense, which triggers the subjunctive. Because the action of watching the forecast happened before the action of thinking, we need the Pluperfect Subjunctive to show this 'past before the past'. If you had used the Imperfect Subjunctive (guardassi), it would mean the watching and thinking were happening at the same time.
How exactly is avessi guardato formed in this sentence?
The Pluperfect Subjunctive (Trapassato Congiuntivo) is built using the Imperfect Subjunctive of the helping verb. In this case, avere becomes avessi for the tu form. This is followed by the past participle of the main verb (guardare becomes guardato).
Why doesn't the past participle guardato change to guardate to match the plural feminine noun le previsioni?
When a compound tense uses the helping verb avere, the past participle does not agree with the noun that follows it; it stays in the default -o form. It would only change to agree if you replaced le previsioni with a direct object pronoun placed before the verb (for example: Pensavo che tu le avessi guardate).
Why is le previsioni plural when the English translation says 'the forecast' in the singular?