"Lei pensa che l'abbia lasciata."
Translation:She thinks I left her.
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868
The subject of the clause "che l'abbia lasciata" could be "I" or "he" or "she" or "it" if the subject pronoun is missing -- isn't that so?
As I wrote elsewhere, I was taught that since the person is indeterminate for the congiuntivo presente singolare, it is conventional to include a subject for the dependent clause unless it is the same as that of the independent clause. By that convention, the answer above is correct (it is accepted, btw), and DL's answer violates the convention.
It is correct, but it's a weird one, because the first she must not be the second she. Meaning the subject of the 2nd clause cannot be the same as the subject of the 1st clause for subjunctive to be triggered. If the subject is the same, then the phrase would have been "lei pensa di l'aver lasciata".
Is it a “Rule” or an “Option” to not use the subjunctive if the subject of both clauses is the same. The site below states: “If the subject of both clauses is the same, you DON’T NEED to use the subjunctive, …” The site does not state that it is incorrect to use the subjunctive. http://learnitalian.web.unc.edu/home/verbs/subjunctive/
Matt: Context should eliminate most of any possible confusion. When I studied in Bologna my teacher told us that the subjunctive is much more common in Italian than it is in English -- he'd lived in SF for several years and his English was quite good. He emphasized that knowing how to use the subjunctive is what separated speakers (native & foreign) who could express themselves from those who could express themselves WELL. His point was the subjunctive is very important to learn.
This subject is called "concordanza" or "accordo" of the past participle and it is one of the trickiest italian grammar topics :)
( See here )
Michael: I think there are several correct answers besides the one given which you cite depending on context: She thinks that she has left her/She thinks that he has left her, maybe even She thinks that you (formal) have left her -- since the verb 'abbia' is the same for all 3 persons in the singular. In fact instead of "her" you could substitute any feminine noun, so: She thinks that I have left IT -- or any of the other subjects.
That is not English. To make it grammatical you would have to add a reference to another time in the past later than the time 'I had left her'; otherwise the past perfect "I had left" makes no sense with the main clause in present tense
eg "She thinks that I had already left her before she met you, but she is wrong".
But the equivalent Italian for this would be "lei pensa che l'avessi gia' lasciata...", using the congiuntivo trapassato, and not the congiuntivo passato used here.
1550
You would be correct if this was indicative and not the subjunctive. This however is the subjunctive.
1550
Because in the context of the sentence the object of lasciata is feminine and could very well be the same person as Lei.
1550
L'abbia (not l'abbio) is the required subjunctive form. The subjunctive is required in the dependent clause (. . that I have left her) because of the "She thinks . . " in the main clause. The "io" is there to clarify the person she thinks has left her as the subjunctive is the same for I, you, he, she, it.