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The Subjunctive Mode

Usage

The Subjunctive mode is used to talk about hopes, wishes, doubts, things that are likely to happen, personal opinions. It is chiefly used in clauses of purposes, and in secondary clauses after verbs as "pensare", "ritenere", "supporre", "sostenere","credere" and all the verbs of saying and thinking which means "to state or to have an opinion".
Look at the following sentences:

Oggi piove; It's raining today.
Penso che a Milano ieri piovesse; I think it was raining on Milan yesterday.
In the former sentence, the speaker is stating a fact which he consider real, maybe because he's looking at it. In the latter, he is stating which he thinks to be possible. Perhaps he has heard of this, but he hasn't a direct experience of the fact he's talking about.

Il suo avvocato sostiene che Paolo sia innocente;
His lawyer claims that Paolo is innocent.
It is the lawyes's opinion that Paolo is innocent, so the subjunctive is used. Compare with:
Il suo avvocato sostiene che Paolo è innocente;
In English it is the same as above, but in italian there's a a slight difference in meaning: the latter means that the lawyer thinks Paolo is innocent, and that the speaker agree with him. But this is a really slight difference, so it's safer to use the Subjunctive after verbs which means "believe", "be under the impression that", "think that". It is also used after the verb "volere"(want) and ordinare(to order): Voglio che il cane dorma in giardino; I want the dog to sleep out in the yard
Il capitano ordina che tu sia liberato;The captain orders that you be set free

In the present tense, the Subjunctive is used instead of the Imperative to give orders in a polite way:
Per favore, esca;Please, go out.

It is used in esclamation sentences expressing a wish:
Dio ti benedica; God bless you.

It is also used in clauses of purpose and result:
Ho indossato questo vestito affinchè lui mi noti
I wore this dress for him to notice me.

Sebbene non sia più giovane, Luca è sempre pieno di energie;
Though he isn't young anymore, Luca is still full of energy.

Relative clauses, Clauses of reason and result can have the subjunctive instead of indicative if they convey an idea of possibility.

Tenses of the Subjunctive Mode

Simple Tenses	Compound Tenses
Presente	Passato
Imperfetto	Trapassato

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The Subjunctive: Present Tense

Usage

It espresses a doubt, wish or polite order. In secondary clauses it indicate that the action takes place at the same time of that expressed in the main clause.

Auxiliaries

Essere (to be)	Avere (to have)
(che) io sìa	(che) io àbbia
(che) tu sìa	(che) tu àbbia
(che) egli/ella/esso sìa	(che) egli/ella/esso àbbia
(che) noi siàmo	(che) noi abbiàmo
(che) voi siàte	(che) voi abbiàte
(che) essi sìano	(che) essi àbbiano

As I've told before, the Indicative Mode is used to talk about facts which are real, or which the speaker perceives as true.

potere(can,may)	dovere(must, to have to)	volere(want)
(che) io pòssa	(che) io dèva	(che) io vòglia
(che) tu possa	(che) tu deva	(che) tu voglia
(che) egli/ella/esso possa	(che) egli/ella/esso deva	(che) egli/ella/esso voglia
(che) noi possiàmo	(che) noi dobbiàmo	(che) noi vogliàmo
(che) voi possiàte	(che) voi dobbiàte	(che) voi vogliàte
(che) essi pòssano	(che) essi dèvano	(che) essi vògliano

Formation

In order to form the Present Subjunctive, you have to take the infinitive of the verb:
amare, leggere, dormire
Drop the infinitive desinence in order to obtain the verb's stem:
am-, legg-, dorm-
Then add the proper desinences, according to the following table:

1st Conjugation (-are)	-i, -i, -i, -iamo, -iate, -ino
2nd Conjugation (-ere)	-a, -a, -a, -iamo, -iate, -ano
3rd Conjugation (-ire)	-a, -a, -a, -iamo, -iate, -ano

Examples of conjugation

-are verbs: am-are(to love)	-ere verbs: legg-ere(to read)	-ire verbs: dorm-ire(to sleep)
(che) io ami (I love)	(che) io legga (I read)	(che) io dorma (I want)
(che) tu ami (you love)	(che) tu legga (you read)	(che) tu dorma (you sleep)
(che) egli/ella/esso ami (he/she/it loves)	(che) egli/ella/esso legga (he/she/it reads)	(che) egli/ella/esso dorma (he/she/it sleeps)
(che) noi amiamo (we love)	(che) noi leggiamo (we read)	(che) noi dormiamo (we sleep)
(che) voi amiate (you love)	(che) voi leggiate (you read)	(che) voi dormiate (you sleep)
(che) essi amino (they love)	(che) essi leggano (they read)	(che)essi dormano (they sleep)

There're verbs other than those which end in "-ere" in the second conjugation. They end in "-trarre,", "-porre" and "-durre". They are conjugated as in tabel below:

estrarre (to draw off)	supporre (to suppose, to guess)	condurre (to lead)
(che) io estràgga	(che) io suppònga	(che) io condùca
(che) tu estragga	(che) tu supponga	(che) tu conduca
(che) egli/ella/esso estragga	(che) egli/ella/esso supponga	(che) egli/ella/esso conduca
(che) noi estraiàmo	(che) noi supponiàmo	(che) noi conduciàmo
(che) voi estraiàte	(che) voi supponiàte	(che) voi conduciàte
(che) essi estràggano	(che) essi suppòngano	(che) essi condùcano

Some verbs of the 3rd are peculiarin the present and follow this pattern of conjugation:

finire (to end)

(che) io finìsca

(che) tu finisca

(che) egli/ella/esso finisca

(che) noi finiàmo

(che) voi finiàte

(che) essi finìscano

In the singular and in the 3rd person plural, the add the syllable "-isc" between the stem (in this case "fin-") and the desinence.
They show this peculiarity in the Present of the Congiuntivo mode too. In all the other forms they're regular.
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The Subjunctive: "Passato"(Past) Tense

Formation

This tense is formed by the present subjunctive of the auxiliary and the past participle of the verb:
(che) io sia stato,
(che) io abbia avuto,
Penso che Laura abbia visto quel film,I think Laura have watched that movie.
Remember that, in case the verb wants "essere" as the auxiliary, the participle takes the plural form when the subject is plural:
Penso che Laura e Lucia abbiano visto quel film, I think Laura and Lucia have watched that movie;
Penso che Giovanni e Luca siano usciti pochi minuti fa, I think Giovanni and Luca left a few minutes ago.
For the use with "volere", "potere" and "dovere", refer to the Indicative Passato Prossimo page. But remember that you have to use the Subjunctive present of the ausiliary this time.

Usage

This is used to indicate a doubt, wish or hope referred to the past. It is usually used in questions: Pensi che abbia scoperto il nostro scherzo? Do you think he found out our joke?

It is used in secondary clauses too to indicate that the action took place before that expressed in the main clause: Credo che sia stata colpa tua I think it was your fault
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