Question 1

This lesson is about expressing doubt with che and the subjunctive. How would I rewrite this sentence to mean "Could the investigator have interrogated the accomplice?"

Accepted Answer

You would use che followed by the past subjunctive, since the original action took place in the past. The sentence becomes: Che l'investigatore abbia interrogato il complice?

Question 2

Is the verb interrogare used exactly like "interrogate" in English?

Accepted Answer

It includes criminal interrogations, but it's much more common in everyday Italian life! In schools, interrogare is the standard verb for a teacher calling on a student for an oral exam. A student might say, Oggi il prof mi ha interrogato (Today the teacher tested me).

Question 3

I noticed complice ends in -e. How do I know its gender?

Accepted Answer

Complice is a noun whose singular form is the same for both men and women. You look at the article to know the gender: il complice is a male accomplice, and la complice is a female accomplice. The plural forms are i complici (masculine) and le complici (feminine).

Question 4

How would I rewrite this to say "The investigator interrogated him"?

Accepted Answer

You would use the direct object pronoun lo. When a third-person direct object pronoun comes before the passato prossimo, it contracts with the auxiliary verb avere and forces the past participle to agree with it. It becomes: L'investigatore l'ha interrogato. If the accomplice were female, it would be: L'investigatore l'ha interrogata.

L'investigatore ha interrogato il complice.

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