Question 1

Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (si fosse infiltrato) instead of the past subjunctive here?

Accepted Answer

The main verb pensavo is in a past tense and expresses a thought, which triggers the subjunctive. Because the infiltration happened before you noticed the broken window and thought about it, we need the pluperfect subjunctive to show this earlier action.

Question 2

Why does the second clause use fosse instead of avesse?

Accepted Answer

The verb used here is infiltrarsi (to sneak in / to infiltrate), which is a reflexive verb. In Italian, all reflexive verbs take essere as their helping verb in compound tenses. Therefore, we use fosse, which is the imperfect subjunctive of essere.

Question 3

Could I start this sentence with perché instead of visto che?

Accepted Answer

It is much better not to. In Italian, perché (because) is rarely used to start a sentence. When you want to begin by stating a cause, it is much more natural to use visto che (seeing that / given that), siccome (since), or dato che.

Question 4

Why does the participle infiltrato end in -o?

Accepted Answer

In compound tenses that use essere, the past participle must agree with the subject. Here, the subject is qualcuno (someone). Even if the unknown person might have been female, the pronoun qualcuno is always grammatically masculine and singular, so we use the -o ending.

Visto che la finestra era rotta, pensavo che qualcuno si fosse infiltrato.

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