Breakdown of Sembrava che il meteorologo avesse sbagliato.
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
sembrare
to seem
sbagliare
to make a mistake
il meteorologo
the meteorologist
Questions & Answers about Sembrava che il meteorologo avesse sbagliato.
Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (avesse sbagliato) here instead of the imperfect subjunctive (sbagliasse)?
The main verb (sembrava) is in a past tense, which sets up a past context and triggers the subjunctive. We use the pluperfect subjunctive because the meteorologist making a mistake happened before the moment it 'seemed' that way. If the actions were happening at the exact same time, you would use the imperfect subjunctive (sembrava che sbagliasse).
Why does sbagliare take avere (avesse) as its auxiliary verb here?
While the English translation 'had been wrong' sounds like a state of being, the Italian verb sbagliare literally means 'to make a mistake'. Like most verbs that describe an action rather than a state or movement, it takes avere as its auxiliary verb to form compound tenses like the pluperfect subjunctive.
Where is the verb for 'to be' in the Italian sentence, since the English translation says 'had been wrong'?
Italian does not use the verb essere (to be) for this concept. Instead of saying someone 'is wrong', Italians say they 'make a mistake' (sbagliare) or 'have wrong' (avere torto). Here, using the pluperfect subjunctive of sbagliare (avesse sbagliato) is the most natural way to express 'had been wrong'.
Could I avoid the subjunctive by using an infinitive here, such as di aver sbagliato?
No, because the subjects of the two halves of the sentence are different. The first part has an impersonal subject ('it' seemed), while the second part is about the meteorologist. You can only use an infinitive shortcut when the subject is exactly the same for both verbs. Because the subjects change, you must use che followed by the subjunctive.
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