Breakdown of Dovresti spiegarmi tutto; non sapevo che mi avessero ricoverato.
non
not
avere
to have
tutto
everything
spiegare
to explain
dovere
must
sapere
to know
mi
me (direct object)
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
ricoverare
to admit to hospital
Questions & Answers about Dovresti spiegarmi tutto; non sapevo che mi avessero ricoverato.
Why does non sapevo che trigger the subjunctive here when sapevo che normally doesn't?
Positive statements of knowledge like sapevo che state a fact and take the indicative. However, making it negative (non sapevo che) turns it into a negative declaration of knowledge. This introduces subjective doubt or unreality, triggering the subjunctive. Because the hospital admission happened before the past realization, it takes the past perfect subjunctive (trapassato congiuntivo).
Why is the verb avessero ricoverato in the 'they' form if the speaker doesn't specify who admitted them?
Could I put the pronoun mi somewhere else in Dovresti spiegarmi?
Yes. Because dovresti is a modal verb (a helper verb like can, want, or should), the pronoun can either attach to the dropped 'e' of the infinitive to make spiegarmi, or it can move before the conjugated modal verb to make mi dovresti spiegare. Both are correct and mean the exact same thing.
Can I use ricoverare for 'to admit' in other contexts, like admitting a mistake?
No, ricoverare is strictly used for medical or institutional admissions, like being taken to a hospital. To admit a mistake or confess a truth, you would use the verb ammettere.
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