Breakdown of L'informatore pensava che lo avessimo ricattato.
avere
to have
lo
him/it (direct object)
pensare
to think
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
Questions & Answers about L'informatore pensava che lo avessimo ricattato.
Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (avessimo ricattato) here instead of a normal past tense?
Two rules are working together here. First, verbs expressing thoughts or opinions, like pensare, trigger the subjunctive mood. Second, because the main verb (pensava) is in the past, and the supposed blackmailing happened before that thought, we must use the pluperfect subjunctive (the past-in-the-past of the subjunctive world) to show that chronological order.
Why is the main verb pensava in the imperfect tense rather than the passato prossimo (ha pensato)?
Where does the direct object pronoun lo (him) go when the verb is in a compound tense like this?
Since we used the pronoun lo, does the past participle ricattato have to agree with it?