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Nel caso in cui il delegato sia in ritardo, inizieremo senza di lui.

Nel caso in cui il delegato sia in ritardo, inizieremo senza di lui.
In the event that the delegate is late, we will start without him.
From Lesson 327:Formal conditions (qualora, nel caso in cui)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Nel caso in cui il delegato sia in ritardo, inizieremo senza di lui.

Why do we use the subjunctive sia here instead of the indicative è?
The phrase nel caso in cui (in the event that / in case) introduces a hypothetical situation. In Italian, this conditional conjunction always requires the subjunctive mood to express that uncertainty, which is why we use sia.
The main verb inizieremo is in the future tense. Why isn't the subjunctive verb in the future tense too?
Italian doesn't have a future subjunctive tense! When talking about a future hypothetical event introduced by conjunctions like nel caso in cui, you use the present subjunctive (sia) to express a condition that might happen in the future.
Could I say sia tardi instead of sia in ritardo?
Not quite. Essere in ritardo specifically means a person or a scheduled event is arriving later than expected (delayed). Essere tardi is used for the concept of time itself getting late (as in, 'It is late, I have to go' - è tardi, devo andare).
Why is there a di in senza di lui? Doesn't senza just mean 'without'?
Yes, senza means 'without'. However, when senza is followed by a personal pronoun (like me, te, lui, noi), Italian requires you to insert the preposition di. If it were followed by a regular noun, the di would be dropped, as in senza il delegato.

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