Breakdown of Avrebbero odiato la conclusione tragica se l'uomo fosse sopravvissuto.
essere
to be
l'uomo
man
avere
to have
se
if
odiare
to hate
sopravvivere
to survive
tragico
tragic
la conclusione
conclusion
Questions & Answers about Avrebbero odiato la conclusione tragica se l'uomo fosse sopravvissuto.
Why do we use avrebbero odiato and fosse sopravvissuto in this sentence?
This sentence uses the Third Conditional to describe an unreal or impossible situation in the past. The main clause uses the past conditional (avrebbero odiato - they would have hated), and the se (if) clause uses the pluperfect subjunctive (fosse sopravvissuto - had survived).
Why is the auxiliary verb fosse (essere) used here instead of avesse (avere)?
Does the grammar change if I put the se clause at the beginning of the sentence?
Not at all! The clause order is totally flexible. You could say: Se l'uomo fosse sopravvissuto, avrebbero odiato la conclusione tragica. The se will always trigger the pluperfect subjunctive in this type of conditional sentence, no matter where it appears.
How is the word sopravvissuto formed?
It is the irregular past participle of sopravvivere, which is made of the prefix sopra- (over/beyond) and the verb vivere (to live). Just as the past participle of vivere is vissuto, this becomes sopravvissuto. Note the double 'v' that occurs when combining the prefix and the root!
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