Usage
The conditional is mode mode used to expressan action that will take place only if something else comes
true first:
Se venissi con noi, ti divertiresti; If you came with us, you will enjoy yourself
It can be used:
- a) on its own to express a doubt:
- Cosa dovrei fare? what should I do?
- b) on its own to express a desire:
- Vorrei mangiare qualcosa.I'd like something to eat.
- c) on its own to express an opinion in way which isn't too direct to the speaker:
- Sarebbe ora di partire.It's time to leave.
- d) on its own to express a supposition:
- Il ladro sarebbe uno straniero.It seems the thief is a foreigner.
- e) on its own to express a polite request:
- Mi passaresti la bottiglia d'acqua?Would you hand me the water's bottle?
- f) in conditional sentences:
- Se stanotte nevicasse, domani protremmo sciare? If it snowed this night, we would be able to ski tomorrow
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Tenses of the Conditional Mode
[---Go back to the Modes paragraph---]
Auxiliaries
| Essere (to be) |
Avere (to have) |
| io sarèi |
io avrèi |
| tu sarèsti |
tu avrèsti |
| egli/ella/esso sarèbbe |
egli/ella/esso avrèbbe |
| noi sarèmmo |
noi avrèmmo |
| voi sarèste |
voi avrèste |
| essi sarèbbero |
essi avrèbbero |
| potere(can,may) |
dovere(must, to have to) |
volere(want) |
| io potrèi |
io dovrèi |
io vorrèi |
| tu potrèsti |
tu dovrèsti |
tu vorrèsti |
| egli/ella/esso potrèbbe |
egli/ella/esso dovrèbbe |
egli/ella/esso vorrèbbe |
| noi potrèmmo |
noi dovrèmmo |
noi vorrèmmo |
| voi potrète |
voi dovrète |
voi vorrète |
| essi potrèbbero |
essi dovrèbbero |
essi vorrèbbero |
Formation
In order to form the Present Conditional, you have to take the infinitive of the verb:
amare, leggere, dormire
Drop the infinitive desinence in order to obtain the verb's stem:
am-, legg-, dorm-
Then add the proper desinences, according to the following table:
| 1st Conjugation (-are) | -erei, -eresti, -erebbe, -eremmo, -ereste, -erebbero |
| 2nd Conjugation (-ere) | -erei, -eresti, -erebbe, -eremmo, -ereste, -erebbero |
| 3rd Conjugation (-ire) | -irei, -iresti, -irebbe, -iremmo, -ireste, -irebbero |
Examples of conjugation
| -are verbs: am-are(to love) |
-ere verbs: legg-ere(to read) |
-ire verbs: dorm-ire(to sleep) |
| io amerèi |
io leggerèi |
io dormirèi |
| tu amerèsti |
tu leggerèsti |
tu dormirèsti |
| egli/ella/esso amerèbbe |
egli/ella/esso leggerèbbe |
egli/ella/esso dormirèbbe |
| noi amerèmmo |
noi leggerèmmo |
noi dormirèmmo |
| voi amereste |
voi leggereste |
voi dormireste |
| essi amerèbbero |
essi leggerèbbero |
essi dormirèbbero |
Verbs in "-trarre", "-porre", "-durre" in the present conditional are conjugated as in tabel below:
| estrarre (to draw off) |
supporre (to suppose, to guess) |
condurre (to lead) |
| io estrarrèi |
io supporrèi |
io condurrèi |
| tu estrarrèsti |
tu supporrèsti |
tu condurrèsti |
| egli/ella/esso estrarrèbbe |
egli/ella/esso supporrèbbe |
egli/ella/esso condurrèbbe |
| noi estrarremmo |
noi supporremmo |
noi condurremmo |
| voi estrarreste |
voi supporreste |
voi condurreste |
| essi estrarrèbbero |
essi supporrèbbero |
essi condurrèbbero |
The verbs of the 3rd conjugation are all regular in this tense.
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Formation
This tense is formed by the Present Conditional of the auxiliary and
the past participle of the verb:
Io sarei stato,I would have been;
Io avrei avuto,I would have had;
Laura avrebbe visto quel film, Laura would have watched that movie;
Giovanni sarebbe uscito pochi minuti fa, Giovanni would have left a few minutes ago.
Remember that, in case the verb wants "essere" as the auxiliary, the participle takes the plural form when the subject is plural:
Laura e Lucia avrebbero visto quel film, Laura and Lucia would have watched that movie;
Giovanni e Luca sarebbero usciti pochi minuti fa, Giovanni and Luca would have left a few minutes ago.
With "volere", "potere" and "dovere" you have to follow the same rule we talked abou on the
Passato Prossimo's page.
This tense is chiefly used in conditional sentences, so look at the next paragraph for
more informations.
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As in English, conditional sentences are composed of an if clause, and a main clause. In their easier form,
the if clause begins with the conjunction "se". As in english, we have three kind of conditional sentences:
reality, possibility, and unreality.
Conditional Sentences Expressing Reality
They indicate that the action is thought to be likely to occur for sure:
| If Clause | Main Clause |
| Indicative (Present or Future) | Indicative(Present or Future) or Imperative |
Here is a couple of examples:
Se vieni da me anche tu, siamo in quattro If you come over, we'll be four
Se verrai anche tu, ci divertiremo If you come too, we'll enjoy ourself
Se hai fame, mangia qualcosa If you're hungry, eat something
Conditional Sentences Expressing Possibility
They indicate that the action is less likely to occur:
| If Clause | Main Clause |
| Subjunctive Imperfetto | Present Conditional or Imperative |
Here is a couple of examples:
Se incontrassi Laura, la inviterei fuori If I met Laura, I'd ask her out
Se Paolo ci vedesse, si arrabbierebbe If Paolo saw us, he would get angry
Conditional Sentences Expressing Unreality
They indicate that the action expressed is impossible:
| If Clause | Main Clause |
| Subjunctive Trapassato | Past Conditional |
Now I'll turn the examples above in sentences expressing unreality, to let you appreciate the difference:
Se avessi incontrato Laura, l'avrei(= la avrei) invitata fuori If I had met Laura, I should have asked her out
Se Paolo ci avesse visti, si sarebbe arrabbiato If Paolo had seen us, he would have got angry
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