Breakdown of Dato che l'operazione era in pericolo, dubitavo che si fosse infiltrato nell'ufficio.
essere
to be
l'ufficio
the office
in
in / made of (material)
il pericolo
danger
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
dubitare
to doubt
dato che
given that
l'operazione
the operation
infiltrarsi
to infiltrate
Questions & Answers about Dato che l'operazione era in pericolo, dubitavo che si fosse infiltrato nell'ufficio.
Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (si fosse infiltrato) instead of the imperfect subjunctive (si infiltrasse)?
This is about the sequence of tenses. The main verb dubitavo (I doubted) is in the past. Because the action of infiltrating happened before the doubting, we need a past-in-the-past tense. In the subjunctive mood, that is the pluperfect subjunctive. If you used si infiltrasse, it would mean the infiltration was happening at the exact same time you were doubting it.
What triggers the subjunctive mood in this sentence?
The verb dubitare (to doubt). When you express doubt, uncertainty, or personal opinion with a phrase like dubitavo che (I doubted that), Italian requires the following verb to be in the subjunctive mood.
Why is the auxiliary verb fosse (from essere) used here rather than avesse (from avere)?
The verb here is infiltrarsi (to infiltrate oneself), which is a reflexive verb. In Italian, all reflexive verbs must use essere as their auxiliary in compound tenses. So, we use fosse to form the pluperfect subjunctive.
Why is era in the indicative mood, rather than the subjunctive? Doesn't the sentence express doubt?
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