Word
Mi guarda come se non mi conoscesse.
Meaning
He looks at me as if he did not know me.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Mi guarda come se non mi conoscesse.
guardare
to look at / to watch
conoscere
to meet, to know
come se
as if, as though (+ imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive)
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Questions & Answers about Mi guarda come se non mi conoscesse.
Why is conoscesse in the imperfect subjunctive here?
After come se (as if), Italian always requires the subjunctive to show that a situation is hypothetical or contrary to reality. Because the main verb guarda is in the present tense, we use the imperfect subjunctive conoscesse to show that this imaginary 'not knowing' is happening at the same time as the looking.
What is the infinitive of conoscesse and how is this form made?
The infinitive is conoscere. To form the imperfect subjunctive for regular -ere verbs, you drop the -ere ending and add the specific imperfect subjunctive endings. For the lui or lei (he/she) form, the ending is -esse, giving us conoscesse.
Why is mi used twice in this sentence?
Could I use a form of sapere instead of conoscere for the verb 'know' here?