Concessive & correlative chains: per quanto, checché · The independent congiuntivo: ottativo & dubitativo · Edge cases in sequence-of-tenses
CEFR Level C1C1 · Lesson 1 of 8By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
You already know nonostante and benché from B1. C1 adds a family of concessive connectors that build longer, more textured concessions — the kind you find in essays and considered spoken argument, not just simple sentences.
Per quanto (however much, no matter how) introduces a concession that's often gradable — it concedes a degree, not just a fact. Per quanto tu sia stanco, dovresti finire. (However tired you are, you should finish.) It behaves exactly like benché grammatically, but carries a slightly more measured, argumentative tone.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Per quanto sia difficile, non ci arrenderemo. | However difficult it is, we won't give up. |
| Per quanto abbia studiato, l'esame lo ha spiazzato. | No matter how much he'd studied, the exam threw him off. |
| Per quanto ne dicano, il progetto funziona. | Whatever they say about it, the project works. |
Checché means "whatever" in the sense of "no matter what (is said/thought/done)." It's more literary than qualunque cosa and almost always pairs with verbs of saying or thinking: Checché se ne dica, la situazione è migliorata. (Whatever people say about it, the situation has improved.)
Some structures trigger the congiuntivo not because they're overtly hypothetical, but because they compare against an unverifiable standard — what someone actually knows, or an implied (and therefore uncertain) comparison.
This fixed correlative phrase — "as far as I know" — takes the congiuntivo because it explicitly flags the limits of the speaker's knowledge: Per quanto io sappia, il volo non è stato cancellato. (As far as I know, the flight hasn't been cancelled.)
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Per quanto ne sappia, non è ancora arrivato. | As far as I know, he hasn't arrived yet. |
| Per quanto mi risulti, il contratto è ancora valido. | As far as I'm aware, the contract is still valid. |
Comparisons between a real situation and an implied, unverifiable one take the congiuntivo, often with an "expletive" non that doesn't actually negate anything: È più complicato di quanto (non) sembri. (It's more complicated than it seems.) The non is optional and adds a slightly literary flavor without changing the meaning.
Every congiuntivo you've met so far has lived inside a subordinate clause introduced by che. C1 introduces the congiuntivo standing entirely on its own — no che, no main clause — to express a wish or a doubt directly.
Used alone (often with magari, almeno, or volesse il cielo) to express a heartfelt wish, frequently about something unlikely or already impossible: Magari fosse così semplice! (If only it were that simple!) Fosse vero! (If only it were true!) Volesse il cielo che questa guerra finisse. (Heaven willing this war would end.)
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Magari avessi più tempo! | If only I had more time! |
| Fossi in te, non lo farei. | If I were you, I wouldn't do it. (bridges to Lesson 34) |
| Sapessi quanto mi manca! | If only you knew how much I miss it! |
| Che tu sia benedetto! | Bless you! (literally: may you be blessed) |
Used in a direct question, alone, to express genuine uncertainty rather than a real request for information — closer to "could it be that...?" than a normal yes/no question: Che sia già partito? (Could he have already left?) Che si siano dimenticati di noi? (Could they have forgotten about us?)
You already know the core sequence-of-tenses rule from B1: present-tense main clause takes congiuntivo presente/passato; past-tense main clause takes congiuntivo imperfetto/trapassato. C1 asks you to handle the cases where an action needs to be marked as anterior to an already-past reported doubt or opinion.
When you report, in the past, a doubt or opinion about something that had already happened before that doubt, you need the congiuntivo trapassato, not the imperfetto: Pensavo che avesse già mandato la mail (I thought he'd already sent the email — the sending happened before the thinking).
| Situation | Italian |
|---|---|
| Simultaneous, past main clause | Credevo che fosse a casa. (I thought he was home.) |
| Anterior, past main clause | Credevo che fosse già tornato a casa. (I thought he'd already gone home.) |
| Anterior, doubled-back doubt | Dubitavo che avesse capito, prima che me lo confermasse. (I doubted he'd understood, before he confirmed it to me.) |
These residual congiuntivo uses are exactly what separates a strong B2 speaker from a genuinely fluent one. Italians use per quanto and checché constantly in opinion pieces, political debate, and considered conversation — and the independent congiuntivo (ottativo, dubitativo) shows up in everyday exclamations far more than most textbooks admit: Fosse vero!, Magari!, Che sia vero? are things Italians actually say, not museum pieces.
Learning to reach for these instead of always falling back on "penso che" and simple connectors is one of the clearest signals of a C1-level ear for the language.
1. sia 2. dica
1. sappia 2. sembri
1. avessi più tempo 2. fosse partito
Write a short paragraph (70–100 words) about a decision you're unsure about, using at least: one per quanto + congiuntivo, one independent congiuntivo (ottativo or dubitativo), and one congiuntivo trapassato for anteriority.
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