Revision:Italian - The Present Conditional Tense

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The Present Conditional Tense

The Present Conditional Tense is used in Italian to describe an action which depends on something else. In English, we do this by saying 'would'. For example; "I would go shopping, but I have no money". It is also used in situations where you may need to be polite. An example could be in a cafe, and you might say: "I would like a coffee please"

How It Is Formed

Like other tenses in Italian, the Present Conditional Tense uses its own endings. To form it, you take the infinitive verb, and take off the 'e' from the end of the word. You then apply the ending. The endings are:

Extra Things To Note When Forming The Present Conditional

• For '-are' verbs you must change the final 'a' to an 'e', as well as removing the last 'e'.
  • e.g. the stem for 'guardare' will become 'guarder-' and not 'guardar-'

• For verbs ending in '-gare' and '-care', you must add a letter 'h', so that the hard sound is maintained.
  • e.g. the stem for 'pagare' will be 'pagher-' and not 'pager-'

• For verbs ending '-giare' or '-ciare', you must remove the 'i' to help keep the soft sound.
  • e.g. the stem for 'mangiare' is 'manger-' and not 'mangier-'

Irregular Verbs In The Present Conditional

If a verb is irregular in its future tense stem (e.g. avere), then it uses the same stem in the present conditional. Here is a list of some example verbs which are irregular in this tense, and their stem:

Examples Of The Present Conditional

Avere (to have)

avrei

avresti

avrebbe

avremmo

avreste

avrebbero

Dormire (to sleep)

dormirei

dormiresti

dormirebbe

dormiremmo

dormireste

dormirebbero

Guadagnare (to earn)

guadagnerei

guadagneresti

guadagnerebbe

guadagneremmo

guadagnereste

guadagnerebbero

Notes

This was used in year 12 for my AS on the Edexcel board.

Also See

• Revision:Italian - Useful Present Tense Verbs