relationship in subordinate sentences Italian inherits consecutio temporum, a grammar rule from Latin that governs the relationship between the tenses in principal and subordinate clauses. Consecutio temporum has very rigid rules. These rules require the subjunctive tense in order to express contemporaneity, posteriority and anteriority in relation with the principal clause. To express contemporaneity when the principal clause is in a simple tense (future, present, or simple past,) the subordinate clause uses the present subjunctive, to express contemporaneity in the present. Penso che Davide sia intelligente. I think David is smart. When the principal clause has a past imperfect or perfect, the subordinate clause uses the imperfect subjunctive, expressing contemporaneity in the past. Pensavo che Davide fosse intelligente. I thought David was smart. To express anteriority when the principal clause is in a simple tense (future, or present or passato prossimo) the subordinate clause uses the past subjunctive. Penso che Davide sia stato intelligente. I think David has been smart. To express anteriority when the principal clause has a past imperfect or perfect, the subjunctive has to be pluperfect. Pensavo che Davide fosse stato intelligente. I thought David had been smart. To express posteriority the subordinate clause uses the future tense in the indicative mood, not the subjunctive, because the subjunctive has no future tense. Penso che Davide sarà intelligente. I think David will be smart. To express posteriority with respect to a past event, the subordinate clause uses the past conditional, whereas in other European languages (such as French, English, and Spanish) the present conditional is used. Pensavo che Davide sarebbe stato intelligente. I thought that David would have been smart. Regular conjugation The infinitive of first conjugation verbs ends in -are, that of second conjugation verbs in -ere, and that of third conjugation verbs in -ire. In the following examples for different moods, the first conjugation verb is parlare (meaning to talk/speak), the second conjugation verb is temere (to fear) and the third conjugation verb is partire (to leave/depart.) Indicative mood Many third conjugation verbs insert an infix -sc- between the stem and the endings in the first, second, and third persons singular and third person plural of the present indicative and subjunctive, e.g., capire > capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono (indicative) and capisca, capisca, capisca, capiamo, capiate, capiscano (subjunctive). This subgroup of third conjugation verbs is usually referred to as incoativi, because in Latin the original