The Italian Conditional

In Italian, the conditional mood is used to talk about hypothetical situations—things that could happen under certain circumstances. It works much like the English would construction.

Se avessi più soldi, viaggerei.

If I had more money, I would travel.

Se smettesse di piovere, andrei a correre.

If it stopped raining, I would go for a run.

Se avessi studiato di più, avrei passato l’esame.

If I had studied more, I would have passed the exam.

You can also reverse the order of the sentence without changing the meaning:

Andrei a correre, se smettesse di piovere.

If it stopped raining, I would go for a run.

How to Form the Conditional

To form the conditional, take the infinitive form of the verb, remove the final -e, and add the appropriate endings.

For -are and -ere verbs

Note: For -are verbs, the -a changes to -e before adding the endings.

Mangiare – to eat

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	mangerei	I would eat
Tu	mangeresti	You would eat
Lui/Lei	mangerebbe	He/she would eat
Noi	mangeremmo	We would eat
Voi	mangereste	You (plural) would eat
Loro	mangerebbero	They would eat

Se avessi più tempo libero, leggerei di più.

If I had more free time, I would read more.

Se avessi soldi, comprerei un appartamento.

If I had money, I would buy an apartment.

For -ire verbs

Dormire – to sleep

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	dormirei	I would sleep
Tu	dormiresti	You would sleep
Lui/Lei	dormirebbe	He/she would sleep
Noi	dormiremmo	We would sleep
Voi	dormireste	You (plural) would sleep
Loro	dormirebbero	They would sleep

Se potessi, partirei domani.

If I could, I would leave tomorrow.

Se stessi attento, capiresti.

If you paid attention, you would understand.

Verbs with Special Spelling Rules

Verbs ending in -isc in the present tense do not use -isc- in the conditional.
Example: Finire → finirei, not finirei.

Verbs ending in -care or -gare add an h before the ending.
Example: Pagare → pagherei

Verbs ending in -ciare or -giare drop the i before the endings.
Example: Incominciare → incomincerei, not incomincierei

Other Uses of the Conditional

Expressing Desires Politely – Would Like

Use the conditional of volere (to want) to express a wish or desire politely.

Vorrei andare al mare.

I would like to go to the beach.

Vorrei prenotare un tavolo per due.

I would like to book a table for two.

Conjugation of volere in the conditional:

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	vorrei	I would like
Tu	vorresti	You would like
Lui/Lei	vorrebbe	He/she would like
Noi	vorremmo	We would like
Voi	vorreste	You (plural) would like
Loro	vorrebbero	They would like

In informal speech, Italians often use the imperfect tense instead of the conditional for requests:

Volevo sapere come sta tua madre.

I wanted to know how your mother is.

Expressing Preferences – Mi piacerebbe

Mi piacerebbe visitare Parigi.

I would like to visit Paris.

Ti piacerebbe bere qualcosa?

Would you like something to drink?

Making Polite Requests – Could

Use the conditional of potere (can) for polite requests:

Potresti aprire la finestra?

Could you open the window?

Conditional of potere:

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	potrei	I could
Tu	potresti	You could
Lui/Lei	potrebbe	He/she could
Noi	potremmo	We could
Voi	potreste	You (plural) could
Loro	potrebbero	They could

Giving Advice – Should

Use dovere (must) in the conditional to give advice:

Dovresti andare dal medico.

You should see a doctor.

Conditional of dovere:

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	dovrei	I should
Tu	dovresti	You should
Lui/Lei	dovrebbe	He/she should
Noi	dovremmo	We should
Voi	dovreste	You (plural) should
Loro	dovrebbero	They should

Irregular Verbs in the Conditional

These verbs have irregular stems, but they use regular conditional endings.

Infinitive	1st Person Singular Conditional	Translation
Fare	farei	I would do/make
Dare	darei	I would give
Stare	starei	I would stay
Andare	andrei	I would go
Cadere	cadrei	I would fall
Sapere	saprei	I would know
Vedere	vedrei	I would see
Vivere	vivrei	I would live
Bere	berrei	I would drink
Rimanere	rimarrei	I would remain
Venire	verrei	I would come
Tenere	terrei	I would hold

Andrei in vacanza se avessi i soldi.

I would go on vacation if I had the money.

Ti darei una mano se potessi.

I would help you if I could.

The Verb Essere (To Be) in the Conditional

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	sarei	I would be
Tu	saresti	You would be
Lui/Lei	sarebbe	He/she would be
Noi	saremmo	We would be
Voi	sareste	You (plural) would be
Loro	sarebbero	They would be

Sarei più felice se avessi più tempo.

I would be happier if I had more time.

The Verb Avere (To Have) in the Conditional

Pronoun	Conditional Form	Translation
Io	avrei	I would have
Tu	avresti	You would have
Lui/Lei	avrebbe	He/she would have
Noi	avremmo	We would have
Voi	avreste	You (plural) would have
Loro	avrebbero	They would have

The Past Conditional – Condizionale Passato

The past conditional expresses hypothetical actions that could have happened but didn’t.

Sarei andata se mi avesse invitato.

I would have gone if he had invited me.

Se mi avessi aiutato, avrei finito prima.

If you had helped me, I would have finished earlier.

It’s also often used to report speech:

Ha detto che sarebbe andata in ufficio.

She said she would have gone to the office.

Forming the Past Conditional

Use the conditional of avere or essere + the past participle.
Use essere for reflexive verbs and verbs of movement.