Breakdown of Se fossero stati meno ambiziosi, il loro tirocinio non sarebbe così gratificante.
essere
to be
non
not
loro
their
così
so, like this
meno
to / less (time) / less
se
if
il tirocinio
the internship
gratificante
rewarding
ambizioso
ambitious
Questions & Answers about Se fossero stati meno ambiziosi, il loro tirocinio non sarebbe così gratificante.
How does the mixed conditional work in this sentence?
The se (if) clause uses the pluperfect subjunctive (fossero stati) to talk about a hypothetical event in the past: 'If they had been less ambitious.' The main clause uses the present conditional (sarebbe) to show the hypothetical result in the present: 'their internship wouldn't be so rewarding [right now].'
Why is the auxiliary verb in the se clause fossero instead of avessero?
The main verb in that clause is essere (to be). In Italian, essere always uses itself as the helping verb in compound tenses. So, to form the pluperfect subjunctive of 'to be,' you use the imperfect subjunctive of essere (fossero) plus its own past participle (stati).
Why does the past participle change to stati instead of staying stato?
Is gratificante an adjective or a verb here?
It functions as an adjective meaning 'rewarding.' However, it comes from the present participle of the verb gratificare (to gratify). Just like in English where we use '-ing' verbs as adjectives (rewarding, interesting), Italian frequently uses present participles ending in -ante or -ente to describe things.
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