Breakdown of Pensavo che la routine ti avesse reso meno inquieto.
avere
to have
meno
to / less (time) / less
la
her/it (direct object)
ti
you (direct object)
pensare
to think
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
rendere
to make (someone/something) + adjective, to render
la routine
the routine
inquieto
restless
Questions & Answers about Pensavo che la routine ti avesse reso meno inquieto.
Why do we use reso here instead of fatto? Both translate to "made" in English.
In Italian, you cannot use fare to mean "to make someone [adjective]" (like making someone happy, sad, or restless). Instead, you use rendere, which literally means "to render". Fare is reserved for creating things or making someone do an action (using fare + infinitive).
Why is the verb avesse reso in the past perfect subjunctive (trapassato congiuntivo)?
The main verb pensavo is in a past tense, which shifts the whole sentence into the past sequence of tenses. Pensare che triggers the subjunctive because it expresses a subjective thought. We use the past perfect subjunctive (avesse reso) because the action of the routine affecting the person happened before the moment of thinking about it.
Wait, shouldn't the past participle reso agree with the direct object pronoun ti?
It can, but it doesn't have to. With the direct object pronouns mi, ti, ci, and vi, past participle agreement is optional. It is perfectly fine to leave it in the default masculine singular (reso). However, if the pronoun were third-person (lo, la, li, le), agreement would be mandatory (for example, l'avesse resa for "made her").
Why does the adjective inquieto end in -o if the participle reso didn't change?
In the rendere + [adjective] structure, the adjective describes the object and must agree with it in gender and number, regardless of what you do with the past participle. Because inquieto is masculine singular, we know the ti (you) being spoken to is male. If speaking to a female, it would have to be meno inquieta.
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