Breakdown of Non sapevo che il nemico avesse già smascherato la spia.
non
not
avere
to have
sapere
to know
già
already
Questions & Answers about Non sapevo che il nemico avesse già smascherato la spia.
Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (avesse smascherato) here?
There are two rules at play. First, while saying "I knew" (sapevo) states a fact and takes the normal indicative mood, saying "I didn't know" (non sapevo) expresses doubt or ignorance, which triggers the subjunctive. Second, because the enemy unmasked the spy before that past moment of not knowing, we must show that the action happened earlier. We use the pluperfect subjunctive (trapassato congiuntivo) to express this chronological anteriority (the "past in the past").
Could I use the passato prossimo (non ho saputo) instead of the imperfect (non sapevo)?
It would change the meaning. The imperfect (non sapevo) describes an ongoing state of mind in the past: "I was unaware." If you used the passato prossimo (non ho saputo), it would describe a single completed event, meaning something closer to "I didn't find out" or "I didn't hear the news."
Why is già placed between avesse and smascherato?
If the spy were a man, would we change la spia to a masculine word?