Editing Subjunctive mood (section)

=====Imperfect subjunctive=====
The Italian imperfect subjunctive is very similar in appearance to (but used much more in speech than) the French imperfect subjunctive, and forms are largely regular, apart from the verbs {{lang|it|essere, dare}} and {{lang|it|stare}} (which go to {{lang|it|fossi, dessi}} and {{lang|it|stessi}} etc.). However, unlike in French, where it is often replaced with the present subjunctive, the imperfect subjunctive is far more common. Verbs with a contracted infinitive, such as {{lang|it|dire}} (short for {{lang|it|dicere}}) revert to the longer form in the imperfect subjunctive (to give {{lang|it|dicessi}} etc., for example).

The imperfect subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses taking the subjunctive where the sense of the verb requires the imperfect.
* English: "It seemed that Elsa ''was not coming''."
* Italian: "{{lang|it|Sembrava che Elsa non venisse.}}"
* English: "The teacher slowed down, so that we ''would understand'' everything."
* Italian: "{{lang|it|L’insegnante rallentava, affinché capissimo tutto.}}"

The imperfect subjunctive is used in "if" clauses, where the main clause is in the conditional tense, as in English and German.
* English: "If I ''had'' a lot of money, I would buy many cars."
* Italian: "{{lang|it|Se avessi molti soldi, comprerei tante automobili.}}"
* English: "You would know if we ''were lying''."
* Italian: "{{lang|it|Sapresti se mentissimo.}}"