At a glance
- Regular formation: future stem + -ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero
- Politeness: Vorrei, potrebbe (I would like, could you)
- Past conditional: auxiliary in the conditional + past participle
- Future in the past: always the past conditional in Italian, never the present
- Irregular verbs: same contracted stems as in the future (sar-, avr-, vorr-…)
The Italian conditional is built on the future stem, to which endings specific to this mood are added. It is used for politeness, wishes, advice, and hypotheses, much like in English. However, a structural difference separates the two languages on one specific point, detailed below.
Formation of the regular present conditional
The endings are identical for all three verb groups; only the vowel preceding them changes.
| Pronoun | lavorare | credere | capire |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | lavorerei | crederei | capirei |
| tu | lavoreresti | crederesti | capiresti |
| lui / lei | lavorerebbe | crederebbe | capirebbe |
| noi | lavoreremmo | crederemmo | capiremmo |
| voi | lavorereste | credereste | capireste |
| loro | lavorerebbero | crederebbero | capirebbero |
Verbs ending in -are change their final a to e before adding the ending: lavorare becomes lavorerei, never lavorarei. Verbs ending in -ere follow exactly the same set of endings; only those ending in -ire differ, using an i instead of an e.
Special spelling cases
Some verbs modify their spelling to preserve the sound of their stem.
| Infinitive | Conditional (io) | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| cercare | cercherei | -care / -gare: add an h to keep the hard sound |
| spiegare | spiegherei | -care / -gare: add an h to keep the hard sound |
| cominciare | comincerei | -ciare / -giare: the i of the stem disappears |
| viaggiare | viaggerei | -ciare / -giare: the i of the stem disappears |
Irregular verbs in the conditional
About a dozen common verbs contract their stem before adding the regular endings.
| Infinitive | Stem | Conditional (io) |
|---|---|---|
| essere | sar- | sarei |
| avere | avr- | avrei |
| andare | andr- | andrei |
| venire | verr- | verrei |
| volere | vorr- | vorrei |
| dovere | dovr- | dovrei |
| potere | potr- | potrei |
| sapere | sapr- | saprei |
| vivere | vivr- | vivrei |
| bere | berr- | berrei |
| rimanere | rimarr- | rimarrei |
| tenere | terr- | terrei |
These contracted stems are exactly those of the future tense in Italian: the two tenses share the same list of irregularities, only the endings change. Beyond this list, the broader set of irregular verbs in Italian also covers the present and the subjunctive.
Using the present conditional
Five uses cover the essentials of this mood’s daily applications.
| Use | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Politeness | Potrebbe ripetere, per favore? | Could you repeat, please? |
| Wish, desire | Mi piacerebbe visitare Napoli. | I would like to visit Naples. |
| Advice | Al posto tuo, studierei di più. | If I were you, I would study more. |
| Hypothesis, opinion | Con più soldi, viaggerei ogni mese. | With more money, I would travel every month. |
| Unconfirmed information | L’azienda avrebbe firmato un nuovo accordo. | The company reportedly signed a new agreement. |
This last use, called condizionale di dissociazione, appears constantly in the Italian press to report information without confirming it, somewhat like the journalistic use of “reportedly” or “allegedly” in English, but in a more systematic way. The politeness register follows a logic close to that of the imperative in Italian, where the degree of formality also depends on the context and the interlocutor.
The past conditional: formation
The past conditional combines the auxiliary avere or essere, conjugated in the present conditional, with the past participle of the verb. The choice of auxiliary follows the same rule as in the passato prossimo.
| Pronoun | avere + participle | essere + participle |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrei mangiato | sarei partito/a |
| tu | avresti mangiato | saresti partito/a |
| lui / lei | avrebbe mangiato | sarebbe partito/a |
| noi | avremmo mangiato | saremmo partiti/e |
| voi | avreste mangiato | sareste partiti/e |
| loro | avrebbero mangiato | sarebbero partiti/e |
The future in the past: the real difficulty for English speakers
English allows the present conditional to report a future action seen from the past: “he said he would come.” Italian, however, systematically requires the past conditional in this same situation.
Mi ha scritto che sarebbe arrivata alle otto.
She wrote to me that she would arrive at eight.
Saying “arriverebbe” instead of “sarebbe arrivata” remains a classic mistake among English speakers, by direct calque of the English construction. This rule applies regardless of the subject or the verb concerned, as soon as it involves reporting a future action announced in the past.
Practical exercise
Test your knowledge:
Question 1: What is the correct form of “parlare” in the conditional, with “io”?
Question 2: What is the irregular stem of the verb “essere” in the conditional?
Question 3: How do you say “I would like” in Italian, politely?
Question 4: How do you translate “She announced that she would change jobs” into Italian?
Question 5: Which auxiliary completes “___ partito” in the past conditional (io)?
Question 6: What is the correct form of “cercare” in the conditional (io)?
Your score
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