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Present Subjunctive - Irregular Verbs: avere, essere, dare, stare, sapere

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The irregular verbs of the subjunctive tense - the tense used to express uncertainty, doubt and possibility - for the most part, are the most commonly used verbs in the language. In other words, the verbs that we tend to use in everyday speech, such as avere, essere, andare, all break the regular conjugation pattern of the present subjunctive tense.

In our last lesson, we were introduced to 5 verbs that were irregular in the subjunctive (andare, dovere, venire, uscire, scegliere); in this lesson, we will study 5 more:

Avere

Essere

Dare

Stare

Sapere

...che io

abbia sia dia stia sappia

...che tu

abbia sia dia stia sappia

...che lui/lei/Lei

abbia sia dia stia sappia

...che noi

abbiamo siamo diamo stiamo sappiamo

...che voi

abbiate siate diate stiate sappiate

...che loro/ Loro

abbiano siano diano stiano sappiano

Like our 5 irregular verbs from our last lesson, these 5 verbs do not retain their stems from the infinitive:
È necessario che abbiate pazienza. (avere)
It’s necessary for you (pl.) to have patience.

Spero che tu sappia come usare la lavatrice! (sapere)
I hope you know how to use the washing machine!

Mia madre vuole che io sia dottore, ma io voglio fare il professore di italiano! (essere)
My mother wants me to be a doctor, but I want to be a professor of Italian!

These subjunctive conjugations are not needed if the subject and object of the sentence are the same person:
Spero di avere tempo per fare una doccia!
I hope I have time to shower!

NB: Pay special attention to the subjunctive conjugations of the two Italian main verbs avere and essere, for they will come in handy in the next lesson!

Lastly, for the third person plural conjugations of these verbs (the loro forms), the stress falls on the first syllable/vowel of the word:

abbiano siano diano stiano sappiano

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