B1 · The future
Conditional (condizionale)
The same stems, other endings — and most of the politeness.
At a glance
- Remember
- A « would » of habit is the imperfetto, not the condizionale.
- When
If and would — Here the condition decides the form, not the position on the clock.
- Form
- (io) parlereiI would speak
- Signal words
- vorrei
- potrei
- dovrei
- -ebbe
- -emmo
- Trap
- Wrong:Ogni estate andremmo al mare.Right:Ogni estate andavamo al mare.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Italian. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending ending for tense and person auxiliary verb
| I would speak | (io) parlerei |
| you would speak | (tu) parleresti |
| he, she would speak; you would speak (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) parlerebbe |
| we would speak | (noi) parleremmo |
| you would speak (plural) | (voi) parlereste |
| they would speak | (loro) parlerebbero |
| I would like | (io) vorrei |
| I could | (io) potrei |
| you should | (tu) dovresti |
| it would be | sarebbe |
| we would come | (noi) verremmo |
| you would have (plural) | (voi) avreste |
| I would have come | (io) sarei venuto / venuta |
| you would have come | (tu) saresti venuto / venuta |
| he, she would have come; you would have come (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) sarebbe venuto / venuta |
| we would have come | (noi) saremmo venuti / venute |
| you would have come (plural) | (voi) sareste venuti / venute |
| they would have come | (loro) sarebbero venuti / venute |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The stem is the future's stem.
Andrò domani, ma andrei anche oggi.I am going tomorrow, but I would go today too.
In a shop and on the telephone it is vorrei, not voglio.
Vorrei prenotare un tavolo per due.I would like to book a table for two.
Advice goes in the condizionale.
Dovresti andare dal medico.You should go to the doctor.
The condizionale passato says what did not happen.
Sarei venuto, ma non avevo tempo.I would have come, but I had no time.
Example sentences
Vorrei un caffè e un cornetto, per favore.I would like a coffee and a croissant, please.
Potrebbe ripetere, per favore?Could you repeat that, please?
Al posto tuo, non direi niente.In your place I would say nothing.
Ci piacerebbe molto venire.We would very much like to come.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English « would » does two unrelated jobs with one word. In « I would go if I could » it is the conditional, and the condizionale is right. In « every summer we would go to the sea » it is a habit of the past, and Italian puts that in the imperfetto — andavamo. The two Italian forms are not related to each other, and the English sentence gives no sign of which one is meant.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The stem is exactly the one the future uses, and the endings are -ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero: parlerei, parleresti, parlerebbe…
Anyone who has the future stems has this form for free: sarei, avrei, andrei, verrei, vorrei, potrei, dovrei.
The commonest use is politeness. Vorrei un caffèin a shopPotrebbe aiutarmi?in the street Voglio un caffè is not meant rudely and sounds it. English makes the same move with « would like » and « could », and here it is one word.
It stands in the main clause of a conditional sentence: Se avessi tempo, verrei.
And it gives advice: Dovresti riposarti — « you should rest ».
For a past that never happened there is the condizionale passato: sarei venuto — « I would have come ».
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The verbs on this page, in every form: andare · venire · volere · essere · avere · potere · dire · dovere