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Tutti quanti mi hanno subito parlato del problema dello smog. Di come ti colpisca dritto ai polmoni.

= Nobody wasted any time talking to me about the issue of smog -- about how it (might) affects you right in the lungs.

I wonder if this "come" should be considered to be a "come se" or "quasi" subordinate clause that always takes the subjunctive verb? In French, a "comme si" clause with the meaning of "as if" always takes the Imparfait tense that corresponds to the subjunctive in Italian.

Do the following three mean more or less the same?

Di come ti colpisca dritto ai polmoni.

Di come se ti colpisca dritto ai polmoni.

Di quasi ti colpisca dritto ai polmoni.

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  • It's an indirect interrogative, where subjunctive is sometimes used. Have a look at viv-it.org/percorsi-linguistico-didattici/….
    – Charo ♦
    Commented Jan 3, 2018 at 21:28
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    @Charo Actually it's a subordinate clause introduced by verba dicendi
    – alexjo
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 8:50
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    @Alone-zee: Your two last sentences do not make sense. In the sentence "Di come ti colpisca dritto ai polmoni" the verb "parlare" is implied. That is, it means "Tutti quanti mi hanno subito parlato di come lo smog ti colpisca dritto ai polmoni". It can be interpreted as an indirect interrogative in the sense that it can be more or less paraphrased as "Hanno risposto alla domanda: come colpisce ai polmoni lo smog?".
    – Charo ♦
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 8:59
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    @Charo It isn't an indirect interrogative clause! There is no question at all, neither any verb like "chiedere, domandare, etc." in the principal. It's a completive clause.
    – alexjo
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 10:32
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    @Charo I'm not sure to follow you... but, the use of indicative or subjuntive depends from stilistic factors (indicative=informal, subjunctive=formal). The sentence "mi hanno parlato di come ti colpisca.." is very similar to "mi hanno detto come ti colpisca" (probably in this form is easier to see that the sentence is not an interrogative).
    – alexjo
    Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 14:03

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