Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)

VERBS

9. The conditional

What is the conditional?

The conditional is used to talk about things that would happen or would be true under certain conditions, for example, I would help you if I could. It is also used in requests and offers, for example, Could you lend me some money?; I could give you a lift.

1 Using the conditional

In English, when you’re talking about what would happen in certain circumstances, or saying what you could or would like to do, you use would, ‘d or couldwith the infinitive (the base form of the verb).

I would pay the money back as soon as possible.
If you asked him he’d probably say yes.
you could stay here for a while.

In Italian the conditional is used in this kind of sentence. Like the present and the future tenses, you make it by adding endings to the verb stem, which is what is left of the verb when you take away the –are, –ere or –ire ending of the infinitive.

You use the conditional of any Italian verb to say what would happen or would be true.

You use the conditional of the verbs potere (meaning to be able) and dovere (meaning to have to) to say what could or should happen or could or should be true.

2 How to make the conditional

To make the conditional of regular –are and –ere verbs take the stem and add the following endings: –erei, –eresti, –erebbe, –eremmo, –ereste, –erebbero.

The following table shows the conditional of parlare (meaning to speak) and credere (meaning to believe).

Note that the same form of the verb is used for the pronouns lui, lei and Lei.

To make the conditional of regular –ire verbs take the stem and add the following endings: –irei, –iresti, –irebbe, –iremmo, –ireste, –irebbero.

The following table shows the conditional of finire (meaning to finish).

Note that the same form of the verb is used for the pronouns lui, lei and Lei.

3 The conditionals of volere, potere and dovere

You use the conditional of the verb volere (meaning to want) to say what you would like.

You use the conditional of volere with an infinitive to say what you would like to do.

Tip

In Italian there are two ways of saying I’d like to: vorrei and mi piacerebbe.

The conditional of volere is irregular:

Tip

In English, the conditional What would you like? is more polite than What do you want? In Italian there is no difference in politeness.

You use the conditional of the verb potere (meaning to be able) with an infinitive.

to say what could be the case, or could happen.

to ask if somebody could do something.

The conditional of potere is as follows:

You use the conditional of dovere (meaning to have to):

to say what you or somebody else should do

to talk about what should be the case, or should happen.

The conditional of dovere is as follows:

4 Irregular conditionals

Some common verbs do not have a vowel before the r of the conditional ending, their endings are rei, resti, rebbe, remmo, reste, rebbero.

Some verbs have no vowel before the conditional ending, and change their stem, for example, rimanere, tenere, venire:

For more information on Verbs which change their stem, see page 76.

Verbs such as cominciare (meaning to start) and mangiare (meaning to eat), which end in –ciare or –giare, and which drop the i in the future tense also drop the i in the conditional.

For more information on the Future tense, see page 93.

Verbs such as cercare (meaning to look for) and pagare (meaning to pay), which end in –care or –gare, and which add an h in the future tense also add an h in the conditional.

For more information on Spelling, see page 191.

5 The conditional of essere and avere

essere (meaning to be) and avere (meaning to have) have irregular conditionals.

Key points

The Italian conditional is often the equivalent of a verb used with would in English.

would like, could and should are translated by the conditionals of volere, potere and dovere.

Grammar Extra!

The conditional we have looked at so far is the present conditional. There is also the perfect conditional, which is used to talk about what would have happened in the past.

The perfect conditional is made up of the conditional of avere or essere, and the past participle. Verbs which form their perfect tense with avere, such as fare(meaning to do) and pagare (meaning to pay) also form their perfect conditional with avere. Those forming their perfect with essere, such as andare(meaning to go) also form their perfect conditional with essere.

For more information about the Perfect tense and the Past participle, see pages 108-109.

In Italian, unlike in English, the perfect conditional is used to report what somebody said in the past.