Help in learning italian.

Hi, can somebody explain me how the subjunctive works in italian?
I was speaking to an italian friend of mine, i said : Pernso che se facevi cio era buono, but he corrected me saying, penso che se avessi fatto cio saresti stato buono. How come?
Then i said in another sentence , ho pensato che hai fatto benne and he said: ho pensato che tu abbia fatto bene, excuse my ignorance, it is not the same thing? Or his senteces are the only corretc? There's no difference to me.... Thanks in advance....

The subjunctive (congiuntivo) is used in places of "doubt" - where you have used an expression that expresses it. Penso (I think), Dubito (I doubt) Mi sembra (It seems to me), Se (if) are all examples words that would begin such an expression. In the clause the follows (dependent on the "doubtful" expression), the verb needs to be in the subjunctive.

The translation of your sentences and his sentences above are the same in English, as we have no equivalent. We do use the subjunctive, especially in GAE, but it is far less extensive than in Italian. However, if you study/listen to Italian enough, it will naturally start to sound correct to you to put the subjunctive there. It is something you must get used to if you do not use the subjunctive as Italians do in your native language.

Thanks, i think that in english we don't use subjunctive , do we?

If I were you...

There's an example of the subjunctive right there :) However, you do hear singers like Gwen Stefani singing thins like, "If I was a rich girl", which sounds off to me, but might be a sign that the subjunctive is dying out here in America. I hear that it is not really use across the pond anymore. People like Kirk or Travis (and others) could tell you better than I could, but if you'd like to learn more, I suggest asking in the English Forum.

Hi Tiffany,
It's true that most people in the UK say 'if I was..' instead of 'if I were..' these days. Unfortunately!