In this lesson, we cover the conditional tenses in Italian.
One of the two conditional tenses in Italian is the simple conditional tense, which is used to describe a hypothetical situation, express wishes, give advice, or make a polite request. It is similar in its use to the simple conditional tense in English, for example, “I would do the laundry if I had time.”
Conjugation
To form the stem of the verb needed for regular verb conjugation, we drop the final “e” of the verb and change the final “-ar” to “-er” in the case of “-are” verbs. The endings are the same for the three types of verbs.
| -are ending e.g., parlare (to speak) | -ere ending e.g., vendere (to sell) | -ire ending e.g., partire (to leave) | |
| io | parlerei | venderei | partirei |
| tu | parleresti | venderesti | partiresti |
| lui/lei | parlerebbe | venderebbe | partirebbe |
| noi | parleremmo | venderemmo | partiremmo |
| voi | parlereste | vendereste | partireste |
| loro | parlerebbero | venderebbero | partirebbero |
Irregular Verbs
The same verbs that are irregular in the simple future tense are also irregular in the simple conditional tense. Thus, we summarize these verbs here in a similar fashion:
1. Some verbs, in addition to dropping the final “e,” drop the vowel before the final “r” from the infinitive to form the stem.
For example, the stem from the verb “andare” becomes “andr-” instead of “andar-.” Other examples from this group are: “avere” (to have), “cadere” (to fall), “dovere” (must), “potere” (can), “sapere” (to know), “vedere” (to see), and “vivere” (to live).
| andare andr- | avere avr- | cadere cadr- | dovere dovr- | potere potr- | |
| io | andrei | avrei | cadrei | dovrei | potrei |
| tu | andresti | avresti | cadresti | dovresti | potresti |
| lui/lei | andrebbe | avrebbe | cadrebbe | dovrebbe | potrebbe |
| noi | andremmo | avremmo | cadremmo | dovremmo | potremmo |
| voi | andreste | avreste | cadreste | dovreste | potreste |
| loro | andrebbero | avrebbero | cadrebbero | dovrebbero | potrebbero |
2. Some short verbs with the “-are” ending do not change the “-ar” to “-er” after dropping the final “e” to form the stem.
The most common verbs in this group are: “dare” (to give), “fare” (to do or to make), and “stare” (to stay or to be).
| dare dar- | fare far- | stare star- | |
| io | darei | farei | starei |
| tu | daresti | faresti | staresti |
| lui/lei | darebbe | farebbe | starebbe |
| noi | daremmo | faremmo | staremmo |
| voi | dareste | fareste | stareste |
| loro | darebbero | farebbero | starebbero |
3. Some verbs, in addition to dropping the final “e,” replace both the consonant and the vowel preceding the final “r” of the infinitive with an extra “r” to form the stem.
For example, the stem from “tenere” (to hold) is “terr-” instead of “tener-.” The most common verbs in this group are: “tenere” (to hold), “volere” (to want), and “venire” (to come).
| tenere terr- | volere vorr- | venire verr- | |
| io | terrei | vorrei | verrei |
| tu | terresti | vorresti | verresti |
| lui/lei | terrebbe | vorrebbe | verrebbe |
| noi | terremmo | vorremmo | verremmo |
| voi | terreste | vorreste | verreste |
| loro | terrebbero | vorrebbero | verrebbero |
4. Some verbs are completely irregular, such as “essere” (to be) and “bere” (to drink), whose stems are “sar-” and “berr-,” respectively.
| essere sar- | bere berr- | |
| io | sarei | berrei |
| tu | saresti | berresti |
| lui/lei | sarebbe | berrebbe |
| noi | saremmo | berremmo |
| voi | sareste | berreste |
| loro | sarebbero | berrebbero |
5. Finally, the same orthographic changes applied to verbs ending in “-care,” “-gare,” “-ciare,” “-giare,” and “-gliare” in the present indicative tense and the simple future tense are applied here to maintain the proper pronunciation.
Examples
Here are some examples that use the simple conditional tense in Italian:
| Viaggerei ogni anno se avessi soldi. | I would travel every year if I had money. |
| Se fossi in te, oggi non andrei in palestra. | If I were you, I wouldn’t go to the gym today. |
| Se avessi molti soldi, comprerei un palazzo. | If I had a lot of money, I would buy a palace. |
| Potresti studiare più ore per l’esame. | You could study more hours for the exam. |
| Potresti passarmi il pepe? | Could you pass me the pepper? |
| Vivremmo in una piccola città? | Would we live in a small city? |
| Dormirebbero tutto il giorno se non avessero un lavoro. | They would sleep all day if they didn’t have work. |
| Direbbe la verità se glielo chiedessero. | He would tell the truth if they asked him. |
The Conditional Perfect: “Would/Could/Should have”
To convey the meaning of “would/could/should have …” in Italian, we resort to the conditional perfect tense. The conditional perfect is one of the two conditional tenses in Italian.
“Would have”
“Would have” + past participle = “avere” or “essere” in conditional tense + past participle, for example:
| Io l’avrei fatto. | I would have done it. |
| Loro avrebbero pagato. | They would have paid. |
| Noi saremmo venuti. | We would have come. |
“Could have”
“Could have” + past participle = “avere” or “essere” in conditional tense + “potere” in past participle + infinitive, for example:
| Io avrei potuto farlo. | I could have done it. |
| Loro avrebbero potuto pagare. | They could have paid. |
| Noi saremmo potuti venire. | We could have come. |
“Should have”
“Should have” + past participle = “avere” or “essere” in conditional tense + “dovere” in past participle + infinitive, for example:
| Io avrei dovuto farlo. | I should have done it. |
| Loro avrebbero dovuto pagare. | They should have paid. |
| Noi saremmo dovuti venire. | We should have come. |
Next: Present Subjunctive Tense II
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