Breakdown of Se avessimo disobbedito, oggi il sovrano imporrebbe regole peggiori.
oggi
today
avere
to have
la regola
the rule
se
if
peggiore
worse/worst
il sovrano
the sovereign
imporre
to impose
disobbedire
to disobey
Questions & Answers about Se avessimo disobbedito, oggi il sovrano imporrebbe regole peggiori.
Why does this sentence mix the past subjunctive (avessimo disobbedito) with the present conditional (imporrebbe)?
This is a mixed conditional. Normally, an unreal condition in the past pairs with a past conditional consequence (avrebbe imposto). However, because the word oggi (today) brings the consequence into the present, we use the present conditional (imporrebbe). It means: 'If we had disobeyed in the past, he would impose worse rules right now.'
What is the infinitive of imporrebbe, and why does it have a double 'r' instead of following the regular '-erebbe' pattern?
The infinitive is imporre (to impose). Verbs ending in -porre (like proporre or comporre) contract in the future and conditional tenses. They drop the intermediate vowel and double the 'r', giving us forms like imporrebbe instead of 'imporerebbe'.
Why is the adjective here peggiori if the noun regole is feminine?
If we wanted to explicitly say 'If we had disobeyed the sovereign', how would we add the sovereign into that first clause?
You would need the preposition a. In Italian, the verb is disobbedire a qualcuno (to disobey someone), unlike English where it takes a direct object. You would say: Se avessimo disobbedito al sovrano.
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