How to use the Italian Subjunctive

The Subjunctive expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility or personal opinions. It barely exists in present day English but it frequently used in Italian. It has four forms: two simple tenses ( Present Subjunctive and Imperfect Subjunctive) and two compound tenses ( Perfect Subjunctive and Pluperfect Subjunctive). A compound tense contains the subjunctive of an auxiliary verb ("essere" or "avere") followed by the past participle of a verb. It is mainly used in dependent sentences that are introduced by che. It is also useful to remember that there is a large range of expressions that demand the subjunctive. The most common ones are before, provided that, although and even though.