Subjunctives in Clauses

checking the “Subjunctives in Clauses” lesson, I didn't understand one of the examples in the section “the only one”:

1. Giovanni ѐ l'unico bambino che non ascolta ​mai la maestra.

I believe that the subjunctive verb in this example is “ascoltare”, but since we are talking about Giovanni (third person), isn't correct to use ASCOLTI instead of ascolta??? 

if anybody can clarify this confusion I'd really appreciate. 

Cris

Ciao Cris,

I understand your confusion. In the sentence "Giovanni è l'unico bambino che non ascolta mai la maestra," the verb "ascolta" is not in the subjunctive mood. It is in the indicative present tense.

The reason for this is that when the clause after "che" (in this case, "che non ascolta mai la maestra") refers to a specific person or thing that exists and is known (in this case, Giovanni), the indicative mood is used instead of the subjunctive.

In this sentence, we are talking about Giovanni, a specific person who is "the only one" (l'unico) who doesn't listen to the teacher. Since Giovanni is known and specific, we use the indicative form "ascolta" instead of the subjunctive form "ascolti."

I hope this clarifies your confusion. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

Buon apprendimento!