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Italian Grammar Bank

CONDITIONAL TENSE IN ITALIAN

The conditional mode is used to indicate actions that can only be realised on condition that certain premises occur.

In fact, it is often accompanied by a subjunctive mode expressing precisely the condition on which the fulfilment or non-fulfilment of the action indicated by the conditional depends.

HOW TO USE CONDITIONAL

The conditional mode is used only under certain ‘conditions’: it is a finite mode with two tenses, a simple one (present) and a compound one (past).

It is used to indicate actions that can only be realised on condition that certain premises occur.

In fact, it is often accompanied by a subjunctive clause expressing precisely the condition on which whether or not the action indicated by the conditional depends.

The conditional mode is a verbal form that is used to express hypothetical situations, wishes, requests, suggestions or advice. In Italian, the conditional has two tenses: the conditional present and the conditional past.

PRESENT TENSE

The conditional present tense is used to express a possible or hypothetical action, advice, wish, polite request or uncertain possibility.

Se avessi più tempo, leggerei un libroIf I had more time, I would read a book
Potresti passarmi il sale, per favoreCould you pass me the salt, please?
Mi piacerebbe uscire con teI would like to go out with you
Andrei in vacanza ma devo lavorareI would go on holiday but I have to work.

PAST TENSE

The conditional past tense is used to express an action that could have happened in the past but did not occur.

It is formed by using the auxiliary ‘to have’ or ‘to be’ in the present conditional, followed by the past participle of the verb.

Se avessi studiato, avrei superato l’esameIf I had studied, I would have passed the exam
Se tu avessi letto l’annuncio, avresti chiamatoIf you had read the ad, you would have called
Se fossi uscito con noi, l’avresti incontrataIf you had gone out with us, you would have met her.
Se tu mi amassi, sarei la persona più felice del mondo!If you loved me, I would be the happiest person in the world!

CONDITIONAL USED ALONE

In independent sentences, the conditional may be used alone to express:

– a wish
Vorrei andare a Parigi – I would like to go to Paris

– a polite request
Vorrei un panino, per favore – I would like a sandwich, please

– a polite advice or order
Dovresti portarti avanti con lo studio – You should get ahead with your studies

doubt, disbelief or wonder
Dovrebbe nevicare anche a Roma oggi – It should snow in Rome today too

CONDITIONAL PRESENT: CONJUGATION

At this point, a clarification is in order: Italian verbs, in the conditional and future tense, are formed following the exact same rules and have the exact same exceptions!

Yes! You got it right: it means that if you know how to form the FUTURE you can also form the CONDITIONAL… and viceversa! Convenient, isn’t it?

The only difference between the future and the conditional is obviously the desinences. The endings of the present conditional are the same for all verb groups!

Moreover, these desinences are not added to the verb root, but to the whole verb excluding the last vowel -E.

Let’s now see an example for each group:

PARLARELEGGEREDORMIRE
io parlereiio leggereiio dormirei
tu parlerestitu leggerestitu dormiresti
lui / lei parlerebbelui / lei leggerebbelui / lei dormirebbe
noi parleremmonoi leggeremmonoi dormiremmo
voi parlerestevoi leggerestevoi dormireste
loro parlerebberoloro leggerebberoloro dormirebbero

Have you noticed the peculiarity of verbs ending in -ARE? The letter -A in -ARE becomes an -E!

The verb essere, of course, is totally irregular! Here are the conjugations of essere and avere in the present conditional:

ESSEREAVERE
io sareiio avrei
tu sarestitu avresti
lui / lei sarebbelui / lei avrebbe
noi saremmonoi avremmo
voi sarestevoi avreste
loro sarebberoloro avrebbero

ATTENTION || We still have to be careful with verbs ending in -CARE and -GARE, which take an H after the -C and the -G in all persons!

PAGARECOMUNICARE
io paghereiio comunicherei
tu pagherestitu comunicheresti
lui / lei pagherebbelui / lei comunicherebbe
noi pagheremmonoi comunicheremmo
voi pagherestevoi comunichereste
loro pagherebberoloro comunicherebbero

Instead, the verbs in -CIARE e -GIARE lose the la -I in all persons!

For example:

COMINCIAREMANGIARE
io comincereiio mangerei
tu comincerestitu mangeresti
lui / lei comincerebbelui / lei mangerebbe
noi cominceremmonoi mangeremmo
voi comincerestevoi mangereste
loro comincerebberoloro mangerebbero

Other irregularities worth mentioning are:

-ARE VERBS

Some verbs in -ARE such as DARE, FARE and STARE do not change the -A into -E. Here are their complete conjugations:

DAREFARESTARE
io dareiio fareiio starei
tu darestitu farestitu staresti
lui / lei darebbelui / lei farebbelui / lei starebbe
noi daremmonoi faremmonoi staremmo
voi darestevoi farestevoi stareste
loro darebberoloro farebberoloro starebbero

-ERE VERBS

Some verbs in -ERE such as DOVERE, SAPERE, VIVERE, POTERE, VEDERE, CADERE (among these, also ANDARE) behave like AVERE, i.e. they also lose the first E as well as the second!

Here are the complete conjugations:

DOVERESAPEREVIVERE
io dovreiio sapreiio vivrei
tu dovrestitu saprestitu vivresti
lui / lei dovrebbelui / lei saprebbelui / lei vivrebbe
noi dovremmonoi sapremmonoi vivremmo
voi dovrestevoi saprestevoi vivreste
loro dovrebberoloro saprebberoloro vivrebbero
See More Verbs:
POTEREVEDERECADERE
io potreiio vedreiio cadrei
tu potrestitu vedrestitu cadresti
lui / lei potrebbelui / lei vedrebbelui / lei cadrebbe
noi potremmonoi vedremmonoi cadremmo
voi potrestevoi vedrestevoi cadreste
loro potrebberoloro vedrebberoloro cadrebbero

OTHER VERBS

 Other verbs, on the other hand, lose not only their desinence, but also part of their root, and are characterised by the presence of the double “erre” (rr).

This happens with VENiRE, RIMANERE, MANTENERE, TENERE, VOLERE and BERE.

Here are the conjugations:

VENIRERIMANEREMANTENERE
io verreiio rimarreiio manterrei
tu verrestitu rimarrestitu manterresti
lui / lei verrebbelui / lei rimarrebbelui / lei manterrebbe
noi verremmonoi rimarremmonoi manterremmo
voi verrestevoi rimarrestevoi manterreste
loro verrebberoloro rimarrebberoloro manterrebbero
View More Verbs:
TENEREVOLEREBERE
io terreiio vorreiio berrei
tu terrestitu vorrestitu berresti
lui / lei terrebbelui / lei vorrebbelui / lei berrebbe
noi terremmonoi vorremmonoi berremmo
voi terrestevoi vorrestevoi berreste
Loro terrebberoloro vorrebberoloro berrebbero

CONDITIONAL PAST: CONJUGATION

The past conditional tense is formed in a very simple way, using the present conditional of the auxiliary TO BE or TO HAVE (depending on what the verb holds) + the past participle of the verb.

PATTERN

Auxiliary (to be, to have) + past principle

ANDAREFINIRE
io sarei andato/aio avrei finito
tu saresti andato/atu avresti finito
lui / lei sarebbe andato/alui / lei avrebbe finito
noi saremmo andati/enoi avremmo finito
voi sareste andati/evoi avreste finito
loro sarebbero andati/eloro avrebbero finito

The past conditional is used to express an event that would have occurred in the past if a certain condition had first occurred, or to express a doubt or opinion, always referring to the past.

Basically, we find it in the same cases as in the present, but with reference to past actions and events.


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FAQs

What is the conditional tense used for in Italian?

The conditional tense (condizionale) is used to express polite requests, hypothetical situations, desires, or actions that depend on a condition, like in “Vorrei un caffè” (I would like a coffee).

How do you form the conditional tense in Italian?

The conditional is formed by taking the verb stem and adding the conditional endings: for -are and -ere verbs, the endings are -erei, -eresti, -erebbe, -eremmo, -ereste, -erebbero; for -ire verbs, the endings are -irei, -iresti, -irebbe, -iremmo, -ireste, -irebbero.

Present and past conditional: what differences?

The present conditional expresses actions that would happen under certain conditions (e.g., “Andrei al mare” – I would go to the beach).

The past conditional expresses actions that would have happened but didn’t (e.g., “Sarei andato al mare” – I would have gone to the beach).

When is the conditional tense used with “se”?

The conditional is often used in the second part of “if” (se) sentences to express hypothetical situations, such as “Se avessi tempo, verrei” (If I had time, I would come).

Any irregular verbs in the conditional tense?

Yes, many common verbs have irregular stems in the conditional tense.

For example, “avere” becomes “avrei,” “essere” becomes “sarei,” and “andare” becomes “andrei.” The endings remain regular, but the stems change.

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