Breakdown of Credevo che l'inverno fosse stato troppo secco.
essere
to be
troppo
too, too much, too many
l'inverno
the winter (m)
credere
to believe
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
secco
dry
Questions & Answers about Credevo che l'inverno fosse stato troppo secco.
Why do we need the pluperfect subjunctive (fosse stato) instead of just the imperfect subjunctive?
The main verb credevo (I believed) expresses an opinion in the past, which triggers the subjunctive in the second part of the sentence. We use the pluperfect subjunctive (the past in the past) because the winter being dry happened before the time you were thinking about it.
Is fosse stato made of the verb essere twice?
Yes! To say 'had been', we use the verb essere (to be). In Italian, essere always takes itself as its helping verb in compound tenses. So you need the imperfect subjunctive of essere (fosse) combined with the past participle of essere (stato).
Why are the endings of both stato and secco masculine singular?
Whenever a verb uses essere as its helping verb, its past participle (stato) must agree in gender and number with the subject. The subject is l'inverno (the winter), which is masculine singular. The adjective secco (dry) takes the same masculine singular -o ending because it also describes the winter.
Why doesn't troppo change its ending to agree with anything?
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