The conditional can be found in both independent and dependent clauses. The compound conditional in independent clauses expresses the following functions:
1. Action conditioned by a hypothesis (indicated by “if”), impossible action, which has not occurred in the past or we know that it will not occur in the future.
- Sarebbe rimasto a letto, se avesse potuto.
- He would have stayed in bed if he could.
- Avrebbero guadagnato tempo, se avessero preso le scorciatoie.
- They would have saved time if they had taken shortcuts.
- Ce l’avreste fatta, qualora foste stati in due.
- You would have made it if there were two of you.
- Sarei venuto volentieri da te ieri, ma purtroppo ero già impegnato.
- I would have gladly come to you yesterday, but unfortunately I was already busy.
2. Regret, benevolent reproach
- Avremmo voluto fare più in fretta.
- We would have liked to have done it faster.
- Avresti dovuto studiare di più!
- You should have studied more!
In addition to the compound conditional, regret is also expressed by the simple conditional + past infinitive:
- Come vorrei essere stato in vacanza con te!
- How I wish I had been on vacation with you!
- Vorrei aver fatto di più per te!
- I wish I had done more for you!
3. Unconfirmed news, for “hearsay”, more commonly used in journalistic style.
[with the meaning of: si dice (it says) / sembra che (seem to) + past tenses in the subjunctive]
- La polizia avrebbe arrestato (cioè: si dice che abbia arrestato) un pericoloso assassino appartenente ad un clan mafioso.
- The police would have arrested (that is: they are said to have arrested) a dangerous murderer belonging to a mafia clan.
- Secondo gli esperti, la lira avrebbe recuperato due punti sulle altre valute.
- According to experts, the lira has recovered two points against other currencies.
- I parlamentari nella giornata di ieri avrebbero lavorato più di dodici ore.
- The parliamentarians worked more than twelve hours yesterday.
4. Future action relative to a past time (the so-called “future in the past”).
- Gli pareva di vedere che cosa sarebbe avvenuto: avrebbe salito quella scala, sarebbe entrato in quel salotto…
- He seemed to see what would happen: he would climb that staircase, he would enter that living room…
- Tutti immaginavano come ti saresti comportato: non avresti osato parlare.
- Everyone imagined how you would behave: you wouldn’t dare speak.
- Pensava che i parenti non lo avrebbero capito.
- He thought his relatives wouldn’t understand him.