B2 · If-sentences
Wishes and regrets
There is no verb for « I wish » — a word does the work instead.
Magari piovesse! — « I wish it would rain ». Magari with the congiuntivo imperfetto is the unfulfilled wish, with the congiuntivo trapassato it is regret: Magari l'avessi saputo!. The same word on its own, as an answer, means « I wish ».
Se solo does the same with se: Se solo fossi qui!. A conditional sentence with no consequence is a wish, exactly as « if only you were here » is.
With a verb of wishing the congiuntivo is required: Vorrei che venisse, Mi piacerebbe che tu restassi. After vorrei comes the congiuntivo imperfetto, not the presente — the sequence of tenses after a condizionale.
For regret about the past: avrei voluto with an infinitive, or che with the congiuntivo trapassato: Avrei voluto che fosse lì.
Die Form
| I wish it would rain | magari piovesse |
| if only I had known | magari l’avessi saputo |
| I wish! | magari! |
| I wish he would come | vorrei che venisse |
| if only you were here | se solo fossi qui |
| I would like to have been there | avrei voluto esserci |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
magari plus congiuntivo imperfetto is an unfulfilled wish; plus trapassato, too late.
Magari fosse vero!I wish it were true!
vorrei che and mi piacerebbe che take the congiuntivo imperfetto.
Vorrei che tu mi ascoltassi.I wish you would listen to me.
se solo plus congiuntivo: the same wish with se.
Se solo avessimo più tempo!If only we had more time!
Regret about the past: avrei voluto.
Avrei voluto conoscerti prima.I wish I had met you earlier.
Woran man es erkennt
- magari
- se solo
- vorrei che
- mi piacerebbe che
- avrei voluto
Beispielsätze
Magari avessi vent’anni!I wish I were twenty!
Vorrei che tutto fosse più semplice.I wish everything were simpler.
Se solo me l’avessi detto prima!If only you had told me earlier!
Avrei voluto che me lo dicesse lei stessa.I would have liked her to tell me herself.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
English hands the whole job to one verb, « wish », and it then takes a past tense: « I wish he came ». Italian has no such verb; the work is split between magari, se solo and vorrei che, and only the last of the three is a verb. After vorrei che the tense is the congiuntivo imperfetto — venisse, not venga — because a condizionale in front pulls it back.
magari wishes; vorrei che takes the congiuntivo imperfetto.
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