CONCORDANCE OF TIMES AND MOODS

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The rule of concordance is the general rule that determines the relations between the most important sentence (principale or reggente) and the less important sentence (dipendente or subordinata).
This rule concerns the time and the mood of the dependent sentence.

The moods of the dependent sentence can be:

• indicative  (if the main sentence expresses certainty)
• subjunctive  (if the main sentence expresses uncertainty)

The times of the sentence can follow three different relations:

• anteriority  (the action of the dependent sentence happens before the action of the supporting sentence)
• contemporaneity  (the action of the dependent sentence happens in the same moment of the action of the supporting sentence)
• posteriority  (the action of the dependent sentence happens after the action of the supporting sentence)

Note:
The rule concerns in general all the dependent sentences, but some of these have special rules indicated in the relative forms.

Go to: subjunctive > indicative > time_relations

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