Breakdown of Il sovrano pretendeva che i sudditi e la corte si inchinassero.
e
and
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
pretendere
to demand
il sovrano
the sovereign
la corte
the court (royal or high court)
inchinarsi
to bow
il suddito
the subject (of a monarch or state)
Questions & Answers about Il sovrano pretendeva che i sudditi e la corte si inchinassero.
Wait, doesn't pretendeva mean "pretended"?
No, pretendere is a classic false friend! It means "to demand," "to expect," or "to claim." If you want to say "to pretend" in Italian, you should use the verb fingere or the phrase fare finta.
Could we use di + infinitive here instead of che + subjunctive, like pretendeva di inchinarsi?
Not without changing the meaning entirely! You can only use di + infinitive when the subject of the main verb and the dependent verb are the same. Il sovrano pretendeva di inchinarsi would mean "The sovereign demanded to bow (himself)." Because he is demanding that other people (the subjects and the court) do the action, you must use che + a conjugated verb.
Why is inchinarsi conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive (si inchinassero) rather than the present subjunctive?
The tense of the subjunctive depends on the tense of the main verb. Because the reporting verb pretendeva is in the past (imperfect tense), the dependent che clause must also shift to the past. Since this is a reported command, it requires the imperfect subjunctive (si inchinassero). If the main verb were in the present tense (pretende), we would use the present subjunctive (si inchinino).
One subject is plural (i sudditi) and the other is singular (la corte). How do we determine the verb form for si inchinassero?
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