Breakdown of Volevo sapere se egli è l'autore.
essere
to be
volere
to want
sapere
to know
se
if
l'autore
the author (m)
egli
he (literary)
Questions & Answers about Volevo sapere se egli è l'autore.
Why does this sentence use egli instead of the more common lui?
egli is a formal, literary subject pronoun meaning "he". In everyday spoken Italian, you will almost always hear lui. However, in formal writing, literature, historical texts, or bureaucratic documents, egli is preferred. Note that egli is exclusively used for male people, never for objects or animals.
Since volevo is in the past tense, why is è in the present tense?
Even though the main verb volevo is in the past, we use the present tense è because his status as the author is still true right now. If his time as the author was strictly in the past, you would use the imperfect (era) or the imperfect subjunctive (fosse).
Could I use the subjunctive mood here and say se egli sia l'autore?
Yes, you absolutely could. This is an indirect question, and in Italian, indirect questions introduced by se (if/whether) can take either the indicative (è) or the subjunctive (sia). The subjunctive sounds more elegant and emphasizes the uncertainty, which would actually pair beautifully with the formal pronoun egli. However, the indicative is completely correct and very common for stating simple facts.
Why use the imperfect tense volevo here instead of the passato prossimo ho voluto?
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