The conditional tense in italian is used instead of the indicative to express facts that may depend on a condition. The conditional has two tenses: present and past.
1. What is the conditional form in Italian?
The present conditional in Italian is formed by changing the ending of the infinitive like this:
| Person | -are / -ere | -ire |
| io tu lui/lei noi voi loro | -erei -eresti -erebbe -eremmo -ereste -erebbero | -irei -iresti -irebbe -iremmo -ireste -irebbero |
The conjugation of regular verbs of the conditional in Italian
| Person | Lavorare (to work) | Mettere (to put) | Dormire (to sleep) |
| io | Lavorerei (I would work) | Metterei (I would put) | Dormirei (I would sleep) |
| tu | Lavoreresti (You would work) | Metteresti (You would put) | Dormiresti (You would sleep) |
| lui lei | Lavorerebbe (He would work) (She would work) | Metterebbe (He would put) (She would put) | Dormirebbe (He would sleep) (She would sleep) |
| noi | Lavoreremmo (We would work) | Metteremmo (We would put) | Dormiremmo (We would sleep) |
| voi | Lavorereste (You would work) | Mettereste (You would put) | Dormireste (You would sleep) |
| loro | Lavorerebbero (They would work) | Metterebbero (They would put) | Dormirebbero (They would sleep) |
- Lavoreremmo volentieri con voi.
- We would gladly work with you.
- Mettersti l’auto in garage?
- Would you put the car in the garage?
- Sono così stanca che dormirei per un giorno intero.
- I’m so tired I could sleep for a whole day.
Verbs of the first conjugation ending in -care and in -gare add -h before the conditional endings to maintain the hard sound of the c and g.
| Person | Cercare (to search for) | Pagare (to pay) |
| io | Cercherei | Pagherei |
| tu | Cercheresti | Pagheresti |
| lui/lei | Cercherebbe | Pagherebbe |
| noi | Cercheremmo | Pagheremmo |
| voi | Cerchereste | Paghereste |
| loro | Cercherebbero | Pagherebbero |
- Cerchereste anche voi casa in questa zona?
- Would you also look for a house in this area?
- Pagherebbero tutte le spese.
- They would pay all expenses.
Verbs of the first conjugation ending in -ciare and in -giare lose the (i) in the present conditional.
| Person | Cominciare (to start) | Lasciare (to leave) (to let) | Mangiare (to eat) |
| io | Comincerei | Lascerei | Mangerei |
| tu | Cominceresti | Lasceresti | Mangeresti |
| lui/lei | Comincerebbe | Lascerebbe | Mangerebbe |
| noi | Cominceremmo | Lasceremmo | Mangeremmo |
| voi | Comincereste | Lascereste | Mangereste |
| loro | Comincerebbero | Lascerebbero | Mangerebbero |
- Cominceremmo la riunione alle 9 precise.
- We’d start the meeting at 9 sharp.
- Ho fame: mangerei un panino.
- I’m hungry: I would eat a sandwich.
- Al posto suo, Dottore, lascerei il lavoro in ospedale.
- In your place, Doctor, I would quit my job at the hospital.
Irregular verbs of present conditional in Italian
Irregular verbs of the present conditional in Italian, like irregular verbs in the future tense, can be divided into three groups:
- Verbs that are conjugated as avere
- Verbs that are conjugated as essere
- Verbs that are conjugated as rimanere.
1. The conjugation of essere, dare, fare, and stare has the characteristic vowel (a) in the ending (-arei, -aresti, etc.):
| Person | Essere (to be) | Dare (to give) | Fare (to do) | Stare (to start) |
| io tu lui/lei noi voi loro | Sarei Saresti Sarebbe Saremmo Sareste Sarebbero | Darei Daresti Darebbe Daremmo Dareste Darebbero | Farei Faresti Farebbe Faremmo Fareste Farebbero | Starei Staresti Starebbe Staremmo Stareste Starebbero |
*Sciare, on the other hand, as in the future, retains the (i): Scierei, Scieresti, Scierebbe, etc.
- Signora, sarebbe così gentile da aspettarmi un momento?
- Ma’am, would you be kind enough to wait for me a moment?
- Mi daresti una mano, per favore?
- Would you give me a hand, please?
- Fareste bene a studiare po’.
- You would do well to study a little bit.
- La maglia rossa ti starebbe meglio.
- The red shirt would look better on you.
2. The conjugation of avere, cadere, andare, dovere, potere, sapere, vedere and vivere are characterized by missing the vowel in the ending (rei, -resti, etc.)
| Person | Avere (to have) | Andare (to go) | Cadere (to fall) | Dovere (must) |
| io tu lui/lei noi voi loro | Avrei Avresti Avrebbe Avremmo Avreste Avrebbero | Andrei Andresti Andrebbe Andremmo Andreste Andrebbero | Cadrei Cadresti Cadrebbe Cadremmo Cadreste Cadrebbero | Dovrei Dovresti Dovrebbe Dovremmo Dovreste Dovrebbero |
| Person | Potere (can) | Sapere (to know) | Vedere (to see) | Vivere (to live) |
| io tu lui/lei noi voi loro | Potrei Potresti Potrebbe Potremmo Potreste Potrebbero | Saprei Sapresti Saprebbe Sapremmo Sapreste Saprebbero | Vedrei Vedresti Vedrebbe Vedremmo Vedreste Vedrebbero | Vivrei Vivresti Vivrebbe Vivremmo Vivreste Vivrebbero |
- Per guarire completamente avreste bisogno di molto riposo.
- To heal completely you would need a lot of rest.
- Non andrei mai a fare un viaggio tutto organizzato.
- I would never go on an all-organized trip.
- Dovremmo uscire di più.
- We should go out more.
- Signora, saprebbe dirmi se c’è una farmacia aperta?
- Ma’am, could you tell me if there is a pharmacy open?
3 .The conjugation of rimanere, bere, tenere, venire and volere is characterized by a double r in the endings (-rrei, -rresti, etc.)
| Person | Rimanere (to stay) | Bere (to drink) | Tenere (to keep) | Venire (to come) | Volere (to want) |
| io tu lui/lei noi voi loro | Rimarrei Rimarresti Rimarrebbe Rimarremmo Rimarreste Rimarrebbero | Berrei Berresti Berrebbe Bearremmo Berreste Berrebbero | Terrei Terresti Terrebbe Tearremmo Terreste Terrebbero | Verrei Verresti Verrebbe Vearremmo Verreste Verrebbero | Vorrei Vorresti Vorrebbe Voarremmo Vorreste Vorrebbero |
- Se non diamo fastidio, rimarremmo da voi ancora un giorno.
- If we don’t bother, we would stay with you one more day.
- Verreste con noi al cinema?
- Would you come with us to the cinema?
- Al posto tuo terrei la giacca anche in casa: fa molto freddo.
- In your place, I’d keep a jacket inside the house too: it’s very cold.
- Vorrei provare le scarpe che sono in vetrina.
- I would like to try on the shoes that are on display.
4. Verbs ending in -urre follow a similar pattern to the previous one (with endings in -urrei, -urresti, etc.):
| Person | Tradurre (to translate) |
| io tu lui/lei noi voi loro | Tradurrei Tradurresti Tradurrebbe Tradurremmo Tradurreste Tradurrebbero |
- Tradurreste questa lettera per il Professore?
- Would you translate this letter for the professor?
- Quella fabbrica produrrebbe sostanze tossiche.
- That factory would produce toxic substances
Uses of the present conditional tense in Italian.
The conditional in Italian is used to express facts that depend on a condition (Sometimes not expressed): Wishes or intentions, advice or opinions, requests in polite form, assumptions and doubts about the reliability of new information, Let’s look at some examples:
- Prenderei un’altra tazza di caff’è, se ce n’è ancora.
- I’d have another cup of coffee, if there’s any left.
- Vorrei andare in Argentina.
- I would like to go to Argentina.
- Se hai la febbre dovresti restare a letto.
- If you have a fever you should stay in bed.
- Se siete d’accordo, potremmo cenare fuori stasera.
- If you agree, we could go out for dinner tonight.
- Sarebbe bene aspettare ancora un pò.
- It would be good to wait a little longer.
- Non esco perchè Mauro potrebbe arrivare da un momento all’altro.
- I’m not going out because Mauro could arrive at any moment.
- Fareste voi la relazione finale?
- Would you do the final report?
- Lisa e Marco sarebbero in crisi.
- Lisa and Marco would be in crisis.
- Quell’auto farebbe 25 chilometri con un litro.
- That car would go 25 kilometers per liter.
The Past Conditional in Italian
The past conditional in Italian is formed with the present conditional of avere or essere, followed by the past participle of the verb.
[The past conditional = present conditional of avere or essere + P.P]
| Capire (to understand) | Arrivare (to arrive) |
| Avrei capito Avresti capito Avrebbe capito Avremmo capito Avreste capito Avrebbero capito | Sarei arrivato/arrivata Saresti arrivato/arrivata Sarebbe arrivato/arrivata Saremmo arrivati/arrivate Sareste arrivati/arrivate Sarebbero arrivati/arrivate |
- Senza la mia spiegazione non avrebbero mai capito come fare.
- Without my explanation, they would never have figured out how to do it.
- Con la tua macchina saremmo arrivati prima.
- With your car, we would have arrived earlier.
- Avrebbe potuto telefonare per avvertire.
- She/he could have called to warn.
- Con un’aspirina saresti stato subito meglio.
- With an aspirin, you would have been better immediately.
The verb avere takes the auxiliary avere and the verb essere takes the auxiliary essere in the past conditional.
- Non avrei proprio avuto voglia di andare a cena da loro.
- I really didn’t want to go to dinner with them.
- Dopo una lezione così noiosa avreste avuto sonno anche voi!
- After such a boring lesson you would have been sleepy too!
- Al posto mio non saresti stato tanto sicuro.
- In my place, you wouldn’t have been so sure.
- Sarei stato facile di conoscere i tuoi amici.
- I would have been easy to get to know your friends.
Uses of the past conditional in Italian
The past conditional in Italian is used to express hypotheses and doubts about events that took place in the past.
- Non sono uscita perchè Mauro avrebbe potuto arrivare da un momento all’altro.
- I didn’t go out because Mauro could have arrived at any moment.
- Forse ascoltando il bollettino avremmo saputo che la strada era bloccata.
- Perhaps by listening to the bulletin, we would have known that the road was blocked.
- L’auto che hanno affittato avrebbe fatto 25 chilometri con un litro.
- The car they rented would have done 25 kilometers per liter.
- Il presidente del consiglio avrebbe dato le dimissioni.
- The prime minister would have resigned.
The past conditional transform the meaning of a sentence and indicates that a wish has not been fulfilled, an intention has not been kept, an advice or opinion has not been followed and a request in polite form becomes a request that has not been formulated or which has not been satisfied. Let’s compare the two times.
| Present conditional | Past conditional |
| Pia vorrebbe uscire. (Forse Pia esce) Pia would like to go out. (Maybe Pia gets out) | Pia avrebbe voluto uscire. (Pia non è uscita) Pia would have liked to go out. (Pia did not come out) |
| Andando in palestra dimagrirei. (Posso andare in palestra e quindi dimagrire) By going to the gym I would lose weight. (I can go to the gym and therefore lose weight) | Andando in palestra sarei dimagrito. (Non sono andato in palestra e non sono dimagrito) By going to the gym I would have lost weight. (I didn’t go to the gym and lose weight) |
| Dovreste telefonare. (Potete telefonare) You should make a phone call. (You can call) | Avreste dovuto telefonare. (Non avete telefonato) You should have telephoned. (You did not telephone) |
| Con la luce accesa ci vedresti meglio. (Puoi accendere la luce e quindi vederci meglio) With the light you would see better. (You can turn on the light and thus see better) | Con la luce accesa ci avresti visto meglio. (Non hai acceso la luce e quindi non ci hai visto meglio) With the light on you would have seen us better. (You did not turn on the light therefore did not se eus better) |
| Verresti con me? (Puoi venire) Would you come with me? (You can come) | Saresti venuto con me? (Non sei venuto perchè non te l’ho chiesto) Would you have come with me? (You didn’t come because I didn’t ask you) |
| Vorrei un panino. (Posso avere il panino) I would like a sandwich. (I can have the sandwich) | Avrei voluto un panino. (Non ho avuto il panino) I would have liked a sandwich. (I didn’t get the sandwich) |
- Saremmo andati a sciare, ma non c’era neve.
- We would have gone skiing, but there was no snow.
- Lo avrei fatto il pieno prima di partire.
- I would have filled it up before we left.
- Avresti dovuto farti ingressare la caviglia.
- You should have had your ankle ingressed.
- Mi sarebbe piaciuto andare in gita con loro.
- I would have liked to go on a trip with them.
The past conditional can also be used to express an unachievable wish:
- Avrei tanto voluto venire a cena con voi, ma stasera ho già un impegno.
- I would have loved to go to dinner with you, but I already have a commitment tonight.
- Avremmo fatto volentieri una passeggiata,ma piove troppo.
- We would gladly take a walk, but it rains too much.