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Il bambino ha saltato nelle pozzanghere più di quanto pensassi.

Il bambino ha saltato nelle pozzanghere più di quanto pensassi.
The child jumped in the puddles more than I thought.
From Lesson 405:Auxiliaries with verbs of motion (avere vs. essere)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il bambino ha saltato nelle pozzanghere più di quanto pensassi.

Why does this sentence use avere (ha saltato) for a motion verb like saltare?
With verbs describing a manner of motion like saltare (to jump), correre (to run), or volare (to fly), you use avere when describing the pure physical activity. Here, the child is just jumping up and down within one location (the puddles).
How would the sentence change if the child jumped into the puddles from a dry sidewalk?
If the puddles were a destination being reached, rather than just the location where the activity happened, the auxiliary verb would shift to essere. You would say Il bambino è saltato nelle pozzanghere (The child jumped into the puddles).
Why is the verb pensare in the subjunctive form pensassi?
The comparative phrase più di quanto (more than what) triggers the subjunctive because it compares a concrete fact to a subjective expectation or thought. You use the subjunctive for the part of the sentence representing what was in your head.
Why use the imperfect subjunctive (pensassi) instead of the present subjunctive (pensi)?
The main action (ha saltato) happened in the past, so your thought about it also belongs to the past (more than I thought or was thinking). We use the imperfect subjunctive to match this past timeline.

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