Emanuele:	Da qualche tempo a questa parte sto avvertendo il desiderio di rivedere tutti quei film d’avventura che da ragazzino mi facevano sognare.
Chiara:	Me lo dici affinché ti chieda qual era il tuo preferito…
Emanuele:	Il mio idolo era Indiana Jones. Tu hai un nipotino, vero? Dimmi se vuole vedere qualcuno dei suoi film: a casa possiedo la collezione completa.
Chiara:	In effetti, a lui piace questo genere e io faccio di tutto perché lui possa essere contento. Accetto volentieri la tua offerta, ma a una condizione: mi sdebito prestandoti un libro.
Emanuele:	Non sentirti in obbligo di contraccambiare. Non è necessario.

This week’s lesson will focus on the Italian subordinate conjunctions (and conjunctive phrases) which introduce clauses of purpose. In other words, these conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause that expresses the overall goal of what is stated in the main clause. Normally, they function similarly to the English so that or in order to:

perché = so that
affinché = so, so that, so as, in order that

When introducing a clause of purpose, both perché and affinché trigger the subjunctive. Namely, the verb that follows will be expressed in the subjunctive mood.

Faremo il possibile perché tu possa essere contento. We will do everything possible so that you can be happy. Mia madre ha cucinato il mio cibo preferito affinché cenassi da lei. My mother cooked my favorite meal so that I would eat dinner at her place.

Perché is common both in spoken and written Italian. Affinché is common as well, though it bears a more formal connotation.

The choice between present or imperfect subjunctive depends on whether the event has already occurred or not. In our first example above, the speaker says he/she will do whatever is necessary to make the addressee happy, and it is implied that he/she has not done anything specific yet. In our second example, we can see that cucinare is expressed in the passato prossimo, which means that the events depicted have already taken place.

In addition to these two conjunctions, we also have a set of conjunctive phrases:

allo scopo di = so that/ in order to
al fine di = in order to
in modo che = so that /in a way that

Just like our two one-word conjunctions above, in modo che triggers the subjunctive, while allo scopo di and al fine di require an infinitive verb to follow:

Si è pettinato i capelli allo scopo di/al fine di fare bella figura. He combed his hair in order to make a good impression. Gli ho detto che l’avrei accompagnato, in modo che non si arrabbiasse. I told him that I would go with him so that he wouldn’t get angry.