16.2.2. Subjunctive-triggering conjunctions

As was described in Section 3.4.5, many conjunctions in Italian always trigger the subjunctive.

Following is a list of some of the most common subjunctive-triggering conjunctions:

a condizione che / purché                    on the condition that/as long as

a patto che                                           on the condition that

affinché / perché*                                so that

benché / sebbene**                             even though

nonostante/malgrado**                      even though

per quanto**                                       as much as/even though

prima che                                            before

senza che                                             without

purché                                                 provided that

Examples:

- Stasera esco con voi, a patto che voi mi riaccompagniate a casa.

I will go out with you tonight, on condititon that you reaccompany me home.

- Ti presto il mio scooter, a condizione che tu me lo restituisca fra una settimana.

I will lend you my scooter, on the condition that you give it back to me within one week.

*Note that perché has two meanings—the more common use of perché is the English equivalent of “why/because;” the less common use (listed above) is the English equivalent of “so that,” E.g.,

Lo faccio perché tu possa andare. = I’ll do it so that you can go.

**As mentioned in Section 3.4.5, the several conjunctions that mean “even though” do allow for the subjunctive to be triggered in the dependent clause when you have the same subject in both the main clause and the dependent clause, e.g.,