Word
Credo che questa decadenza rifletta la fine di un'era.
Meaning
I believe that this decay reflects the end of an era.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Credo che questa decadenza rifletta la fine di un'era.
un
a / an (masculine)
questo
this (masculine)
di
of, from
credere
to believe
Questions & Answers about Credo che questa decadenza rifletta la fine di un'era.
Why is rifletta used here instead of the present indicative riflette?
Because it follows Credo che (I believe that). In Italian, verbs expressing personal opinion, belief, or uncertainty in the main clause trigger the subjunctive mood in the dependent clause to highlight that it is a subjective thought rather than an objective fact.
Doesn't an -a ending usually indicate an -are verb?
In the present indicative, yes! But rifletta is the present subjunctive of riflettere (an -ere verb). In the present subjunctive, the vowel endings flip: -ere and -ire verbs take -a endings for all singular subjects (io, tu, lui/lei), while -are verbs take -i endings.
Could I use declino instead of decadenza here?
Just as a quick refresher, why is there an apostrophe in un'era?