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Italian Journalistic Language — Linguaggio Giornalistico·Distinguishing Fact from Attributed Information
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Rule reminder

CONFIRMED FACTS use the indicative: 'Il premier ha firmato il decreto' (The PM signed the decree). ATTRIBUTED/UNVERIFIED INFORMATION uses: (1) the conditional: 'Il premier avrebbe firmato' (allegedly signed), (2) attribution phrases: 'secondo fonti', 'si apprende che', (3) verbs of rumour: 'si dice', 'si mormora', (4) subjunctive after doubt: 'è possibile che abbia firmato'. Misreading these signals leads to misunderstanding Italian news.

Distinguishing Fact from Attributed Information1 / 10

Compare these two sentences: A) 'Il ministro ha firmato le dimissioni.' B) 'Il ministro avrebbe firmato le dimissioni.' What is the key difference?

More in this section

→ Headline Ellipsis→ Nominal Style in News Leads→ Reporting Verbs→ The Hearsay Conditional (Condizionale di Rumor)
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