Question 1

Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (avessimo ricattato) here instead of a normal past tense?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Why is the main verb pensava in the imperfect tense rather than the passato prossimo (ha pensato)?

Accepted Answer

We use the imperfect here because thinking or believing is usually an ongoing state of mind in the past, rather than a single completed action. It sets the background condition for the sentence.

Question 3

Where does the direct object pronoun lo (him) go when the verb is in a compound tense like this?

Accepted Answer

It goes immediately before the conjugated part of the verb. In compound tenses, the auxiliary verb (avessimo) is the conjugated part, so lo comes right before it. You will also frequently see this contracted as l'avessimo.

Question 4

Since we used the pronoun lo, does the past participle ricattato have to agree with it?

Accepted Answer

Yes! When you use a compound tense with the third-person direct object pronouns lo, la, li, or le, the past participle must match the gender and number of that pronoun. Because lo is masculine singular, ricattato ends in -o. If the informant were female, we would use la and it would become la avessimo ricattata (or l'avessimo ricattata).

L'informatore pensava che lo avessimo ricattato.

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