When something in the subordinate clause happened first
Credevo che fosse in ufficio is "I thought he was at the office". Credevo che fosse partito is "I thought he had left". The congiuntivo trapassato says that the subordinate clause lies before the main clause. English draws the same line with was against had left, so the idea is familiar.
At the same time or earlier?
Credevo che fosse in ufficio.
I thought he was at the office.
Credevo che fosse partito.
I thought he had already left.
The forms
Both auxiliaries
| Person | parlare (avere) | partire (essere) |
|---|---|---|
| io | avessi parlato | fossi partito |
| tu | avessi parlato | fossi partito |
| lui / lei | avesse parlato | fosse partito |
| noi | avessimo parlato | fossimo partiti |
| voi | aveste parlato | foste partiti |
| loro | avessero parlato | fossero partiti |
A verb with avere on the left, one with essere on the right.
With essere the participle agrees with the subject, which English never does: Credevo che Anna fosse già uscita. Reflexive verbs take essere, and the pronoun goes in front of the auxiliary: Pensavo che si fosse già svegliato.
Listen and repeat
Pensavo che aveste già finito.
I thought you had already finished.
Non mi aspettavo che te lo avesse già detto lui.
I hadn't expected him to have already told you.
Non credevo che si fossero già alzati alle sei.
I didn't think they had already got up at six.
What is it used for?
After a past verb
The main clause is in the past and the subordinate clause names something that had already happened before it.
Credevo che fosse partito la settimana prima.
I thought he had left the week before.
Mi sembrava che non avessero capito la domanda.
It seemed to me they hadn't understood the question.
Temevo che avesse dimenticato l'appuntamento.
I was afraid he had forgotten the appointment.
After the condizionale passato
A wish or reproach in the condizionale passato (avrei preferito che, sarebbe stato meglio che) also takes the congiuntivo trapassato.
Avrei preferito che me lo avessi detto prima.
I would have preferred you to tell me earlier.
Sarebbe stato meglio che tu fossi rimasto a casa.
It would have been better if you had stayed at home.
After se
After se, when the condition lay in the past and did not come true. English builds this with if plus a past perfect; in Italian the main clause takes the condizionale passato.
Se lo avessi saputo, sarei venuto anch'io.
If I had known, I would have come too.
