Introduzione

This post brings together my study notes for the italian present conditional (‘condizionale presente’) verb tense.
I begin by outlining the common usage of the condizionale presente, before explaining some of the unusual features that students need to remember, then finally describing both regular and irregular verb conjugation.
To conclude, I have added a simple dialogue that uses the condizionale presente in a common situation.

Usi del condizionale presente

Generali di utilizzo

In general, the condizionale presente is used to express conditions or possibilities. In English, this is normally expressed with would or should.
    ”I would accept her offer, if…”
That’s a nice starting point, but let’s take it a bit further.  We can use the condizionale presente to:

(1.) Express would when referring to actions or events that may never be fulfilled, in rhetorical questions, or where there is an implied condition.
Andrei al cinema volentieri, mo non ho soldi
I would gladly go to the cinemas, but I have no money

Lo comprerei, ma non ho soldi
I would buy it, but I don’t have the money

Sarebbe una buona idea, ma…
It would be a good idea, but…

Quando arrivate a casa, potreste telefonarci
When you arrive home, you could call us

Ma chi direbbe una cosa simile?
But who would say such a thing?

(2.) Express desire, requests or intention
Vorrei un caffe’
I would like a coffee

Verrei, ma non posso
I would come, but I cannot

Vorrei una bistecca ben cotta
I would like a well-done steak

(3.) Express a personal opinion
Direi che e’ una buona idea
I think (I would say) it is a good idea

(4.) Express what would happen if a certain condition were met; used in conjunction with an “if” phrase
Se avessi i soldi, farei il giro del mondo
If I had the money, I would go around the world

Se piovesse, rimarrei a casa, o andrei in macchina
If it rained/were to rain, I would stay at home, or I’d take the car

(5.) Express an indirect quotation
Maria ha detto che verrebbe domani
Mary said that she would be coming tomorrow

Luigi si chiedeva quando l’avrebbe rivista
Luigi was wondering when he would see her again

(6.) Add kindness or politeness to a request; similarly, it can be used to express a preference, advice or a suggestion (often using dovere, potere and volere)
Senti, mi faresti questo piccollo favore?
Hey, would you do me this little favor?

Dovresti scriverle domani
You should (ought to) write to her tomorrow

I verbi speciale

Dovere translates as the English “should”.  It can be used to ask or give advice, to say what one must do or is supposed to do, and to express probability.
Dovresti pulire la casa
You should clean the house

Essere can be used to express irritation or scepticism
E che cosa sarebbe questo foglio?
And what would this sheet be?

Potere can be used to express a polite request, a definite possibility, or something that could or is likely to happen.
Potremmo andare al ristorante
We could go to the restaurant

Non c”e nebbia, potreste essere a Roma in due ore
There is no fog, you could be in Rome in two hours

Sapere can be used to express a polite request, an ability or inability to do something.
Penso che Erica saprebbe tradurlo
I think Erica would know how to translate it

Volere expresses wishes and desires.
Noi vorremmo parlare bene l’italiano
We would like to speak Italian well

Meccanismi

Aspetta! As usual, there are a few kooky things that students should be aware of…

Verbo terminazioni

The condizionale presente is closely associated with the future tense.
The conditional is formed by adding regular endings to the same stem as for the future tense. This is important - it means that the verb endings in the condizionale presente are the same for both regular and irregular verbs; it is only the root stem that changes.

Singular
(1st person)      -ei
(2nd person)     -esti
(3rd person)      -ebbe

Plural
(1st person)      -emmo
(2nd person)     -este
(3rd person)      -ebbero
These are discussed in more detail below, for both regular and irregular verb forms.

“Used to…”

English often uses would to express as “used to…”; in this case Italian uses the imperfect.
Quando ero piccollo, giocavo con i miei gatti
When I was little, I would play with my cats

“Would like to…”

English uses would to express a willingness to do something; in the same situation, Italian uses volere plus the verb infinitive.
Gli ho chiesto di sparecchiare la tavola, ma non volevano fare niente
I asked them to clear the table, but they would not do anything

I pronomi

All direct and indirect object pronouns (including ne) precede the condizionale presente.

Il verbo negativo

The negative is formed by putting non before the verb.
Non capiresti nulla
You wouldn’t understand a thing

Non vorremmo partire
We wouldn’t want to leave

Non tradurrei cosi’
I wouldn’t translate (it) for you

Il verbo “piacere”

The verb piacere retains its usual features in the condizionale presente. That is, we conjugate piacere and retain the ‘action’ verb in the infinitive.
Mi piacerebbe andare in Italia
I would like to go to Italy (literally: To me, it would be pleasing to go to Italy)

I verbi modali

Note the different meanings of potere, dovere and volere in the presente and the condizionale presente.
Presente
Potere      Lo posso fare (I can do it)
Dovere     Lo devo fare (I have to do it)
Volere      Lo voglio fare (I want to do it)

Condizionale presente
Potere      Lo potrei fare (I could do it)
Dovere     Lo dovrei fare (I should to do it)
Volere      Lo vorrei fare (I would like to do it)

Coniugazione regolare

Let’s look at regular verb conjugations in the condizionale presente.

Regular verbs in the condizionale presente all apply the same verb endings to their respective root stems.
The root stems are easily obtained.
- simple remove the final -e from the infinitive
- for verbs ending in -are, the infinitive a becomes an e
Parlare becomes parler-
Vendere becomes vender-
Dormire becomes dormir-
Preferire becomes preferir-
     -are → -er-
     -ere → -er-
     -ire → -ir-

- add the regular verb ending
     (io) -ei
     (tu) -esti
     (Lui) -ebbe
     (noi) -emmo
     (voi) -este
     (loro) -ebbero

Per esempio…

 

Parlare	Vendere	Dormire	Preferire
parlerei	venderei	dormirei	preferirei
parleresti	venderesti	dormiresti	preferiresti
parlerebbe	venderebbe	dormirebbe	preferirebbe
parleremmo	venderemmo	dormiremmo	preferiremmo
parlereste	vendereste	dormireste	preferireste
parlerebbero	venderebbero	dormirebbero	preferirebbero

But of course…there are exceptions!

 
Dare Fare Stare
darei farei starei
daresti faresti staresti
darebbe farebbe starebbe
daremmo faremmo staremmo
dareste fareste stareste
darebbero farebbero starebbero

 

 

- verbs ending in -care and -gare add an -h- before the ending
Cercare Pagare
cercherei pagherei
cercheresti pagheresti
cercherebbe pagherebbe
cercheremmo pagheremmo
cerchereste paghereste
cercherebbero pagherebbero

All verbs ending in -urre have the following pattern.
Tradurre
-urrei tradurrei
-urresti tradurresti
-urrebbe tradurrebbe
-urremmo tradurremmo
-urreste tradurreste
-urrebbero tradurrebbero

L’interprete tradurrebbe tutto per te The interpreter would translate everything for you

Coniugazione irregolare

Irregular forms of the condizionale presente use the same verb endings as regular verbs, but the root is irregular. In fact, the root is the same as for the future tense.
Note - verbs with an irregular root in the future tense have the same irregular root in the conditional.
The same verbs that are irregular in the future are also irregular in the condizionale presente.

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As is the case of the future tense, most (but not all!) irregular verbs in the condizionale presente are formed by dropping the first and last vowels from the infinitive ending. The regular verb endings are then added.
avere → avr- → avrei
avresti
avrebbe
avremmo
avreste
avrebbero
Other common irregular verbs that follow this pattern are shown below. The list is not complete by any means, but it’ll give you the ideas enough to get you moving.
avere avr- (avrei, avresti, avrebbe, avremmo, avreste, avrebbero)
cadere cadr- (cadrei, cadresti, cadrebbe, cadremmo, cadreste, cadrebbero)
dovere dovr- (dovrei, dovresti, dovrebbe, dovremmo, dovreste, dovrebbero)
potere potr- (potrei, potresti, potrebbe, potreste, potrebbero)
sapere sapr- (saprei, sapresti, saprebbe, sapreste, saprebbero)
vedere vedr- (vedrei, vedresti, vedrebbe, vedreste, vedrebbero)

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With the irregular verbs dare, dire, fare, stare, porre (and verbs made up with it like comporre) and trarre (and verbs made up with it like attrarre), follow the regular verb pattern.
Drop the final vowel from the infinitive and add the usual endings.
dare dar- (darei, daresti, darebbe, daremmo, dareste, darebbero)
dire dir- (direi, diresti, direbbe, diremmo, direste, direbbero)
fare far- (farei, faresti, farebbe, faremmo, fareste, farebbero)
stare star- (starei, staresti, starebbe, stareste, starebbero)
porre porr- (porrei, porresti, porrebbe, porreste, porrebbero)
trarre trarr- (trarrei, trarresti, trarrebbe, trarreste, trarrebbero)

==========
As is the case with the future tense, there are only a few verbs that are completely irregular in the condizionale presente.
bere berr- (berrei, berresti, berrebbe, berremmo, berreste, berrebbero)
essere sar- (sarei, saresti, sarebbe, saremmo, sareste, sarebbero)
rimanere rimarr- (rimarrei, rimarresti, rimarrebbe, rimarremmo, rimarreste, rimarrebbero)
venire verr- (verrei, verresti, verrebbe, verremmo, verreste, verrebbero)
volere vorr- (vorrei, vorresti, vorrebbe, vorremmo, vorreste, vorrebbero)

Un dialogo illustrativi

[Antonio] Pronto. Giorgio. Ti piacerebbe uscrire stasera?
[Georgio] Mi piacerebbe, ma non posso.
[Antonio] Perche’? Devi studiare? Io non mi preoccuperei cosi’ tanto!
[Georgio] Tu non ti preoccuperesti mai, ma io si’!
[Antonio] Va bene. Saresti libero domani?
[Georgio] Domani si’, ma preferei andare a prendere un caffe’ al bar. Va bene?
[Antonio] Va bene.

[Antonio] Hello. Giorgio. Would you like to go out tonight?
[Georgio] I would like to, but I can’t.
[Antonio] Why? Do you have to study? I wouldn’t worry so much!
[Georgio] You would never worry, but I would.
[Antonio] Fine. Would you be free tomorrow?
[Georgio] Tomorrow yes, but I would prefer to go and get a coffee at the coffee bar. OK?
[Antonio] OK.