B2 · The future
Future in the past
One English word, « would », and two unrelated Italian forms.
At a glance
- Remember
- Seen from yesterday, the future is a condizionale passato.
- When
Time in name only — A future form for a guess, a past form for politeness: the label says nothing about when.
- Form
- (io) sarei venuto / venutaI would come (seen from then)
- Signal words
- sarebbe
- avrebbe
- stavo per
- doveva
- Trap
- Wrong:Ieri ha detto che verrebbe, ma non è venuto.Right:Ieri ha detto che sarebbe venuto, ma non è venuto.
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 auxiliary verb
| I would come (seen from then) | (io) sarei venuto / venuta |
| you would come | (tu) saresti venuto / venuta |
| he, she would come; you would come (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) sarebbe venuto / venuta |
| we would come | (noi) saremmo venuti / venute |
| you would come (plural) | (voi) sareste venuti / venute |
| they would come | (loro) sarebbero venuti / venute |
| I would have finished | (io) avrei finito |
| you would have finished | (tu) avresti finito |
| he, she would have finished; you would have finished (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) avrebbe finito |
| we would have finished | (noi) avremmo finito |
| you would have finished (plural) | (voi) avreste finito |
| they would have finished | (loro) avrebbero finito |
| I was about to go out | (io) stavo per uscire |
| you were about to go out | (tu) stavi per uscire |
| he, she was about to go out; you were about to go out (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) stava per uscire |
| we were about to go out | (noi) stavamo per uscire |
| you were about to go out (plural) | (voi) stavate per uscire |
| they were about to go out | (loro) stavano per uscire |
| I was supposed to leave | (io) dovevo partire |
| you were supposed to leave | (tu) dovevi partire |
| he, she was supposed to leave; you were supposed to leave (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) doveva partire |
| we were supposed to leave | (noi) dovevamo partire |
| you were supposed to leave (plural) | (voi) dovevate partire |
| they were supposed to leave | (loro) dovevano partire |
| what would happen | quello che sarebbe successo |
| we would meet again | ci saremmo rivisti |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The future in the past: condizionale passato, never the simple one.
Ha promesso che sarebbe tornato.He promised he would come back.
About to happen, back then: stare per in the imperfetto.
Stavo per chiamarti.I was just about to call you.
Scheduled, back then: dovere in the imperfetto.
Dovevamo partire a mezzogiorno.We were supposed to leave at midday.
A narrator who knows the ending: sarebbe plus the participle.
Non sapeva ancora cosa sarebbe successo.He did not yet know what would happen.
Example sentences
Stavo giusto per dirtelo.I was just about to tell you.
Credeva che ce l’avrebbe fatta al primo colpo.He thought he would manage it first time.
La riunione doveva durare un’ora; è durata tre.The meeting was supposed to last an hour; it lasted three.
Nessuno sapeva cosa sarebbe seguito.Nobody knew what would follow.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English writes « I would come » and « he said he would come » with the same word, and the two Italian forms are not related: verreibelongs to nowsarebbe venutobelongs to a sentence looked at from the past Nothing in the English sentence points to either one, so the choice has to be made from the surrounding tense instead — a verb of saying or thinking in the past calls for the compound form.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A narrative stands in the past, and inside it something was still ahead. Italian uses the condizionale passato for that: Ha detto che sarebbe venuto — « he said he would come ».
It is the commonest mistake there is, and English gives no warning: « would » is one word and it is the same word as the plain conditional. The simple Italian form covers the present only, so ha detto che verrebbe is wrong.
Stare per in the imperfetto says what was about to happen then: Stavo per uscire quando ha suonato — « I was just going out when the bell rang ».
And dovere in the imperfetto says what was scheduled: Il treno doveva partire alle otto. Whether it did, the sentence leaves open.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: essere · avere · stare · dovere · sapere · durare · tornare · partire