Breakdown of Penso che la fiera inizierà in perfetto orario.
in
in / made of (material)
iniziare
to start
pensare
to think
l'orario
schedule
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
perfetto
perfect
la fiera
fair/convention
Questions & Answers about Penso che la fiera inizierà in perfetto orario.
I thought the verb was pensare a (to think about). Why is there no a before che?
You are right that pensare takes the preposition a before a noun or an infinitive (like Penso a te or Penso a studiare). However, Italian grammar forbids using a directly before the declarative conjunction che (that). Whenever a verb that normally takes a introduces a full clause with che, you must drop the preposition.
Doesn't penso che usually require the subjunctive? Why is inizierà in the indicative?
Excellent catch! Verbs of opinion like pensare do trigger the subjunctive for present or past events (e.g., Penso che la fiera inizi adesso). But the Italian subjunctive mood doesn't have a future tense. When expressing an opinion about something that will happen in the future, you just use the standard future indicative (inizierà).
How does the phrase in perfetto orario work?
The standard Italian expression for "on time" is in orario. To say "perfectly on time," Italian inserts the adjective perfetto directly into the phrase to modify the noun orario (literally "in perfect time"). Notice that Italian uses the preposition in rather than a translation of "on".
Could fiera mean "proud" here?
No, here la fiera is a noun meaning "the fair," "the exhibition," or "the trade show." While there is an adjective fiero (proud), which becomes fiera in the feminine singular, the definite article la tells you this is the noun form.
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