Going Over the Conditional Tense

| Fri, 08/10/2018 - 02:48

The present conditional tense in 禁漫天堂 is equivalent to 鈥榳ould + verb鈥� in English. For example, I would like to go to Italy tomorrow - Vorrei andare in Italia domani. It can also be translated as 鈥榗ould鈥�, 鈥榮hould鈥�, 鈥榦ught to鈥�, 鈥榤ight鈥� or 鈥榤ay鈥�.

You can use the conditional tense to express the following:

-听听a desire, intention or preference

-听听I would like to eat now - Vorrei mangiare ora

-听听a polite request听

-听Would you give me a lift? - Mi daresti un passaggio?

-听听补诲惫颈肠别

-听If I were in your place I would write a letter - Al posto tuo, io scriverei una lettera

-听You should work! - Dovresti lavorare!

-听听a possibility

-听It might be fun - Potrebbe essere divertente

There are some grammar rules to follow in order to form the conditional tense. For verbs ending in听-are, you need to change the infinitive ending听-are into听-er to obtain the root. Then you add the conditional endings.

For听-ere and听-ire听verbs you just drop the final听-e of the infinitive to make the root and then add the conditional endings.

The conditional endings are:

io / -ei听

tu / -esti

lui / lei -ebbe

noi / -emmo

voi / -este

loro / -ebbero

See some full verb tables below:

听	PARLARE	CREDERE听听听听听听听听听听听听听SENTIRE
io	parlerei	crederei	sentirei
tu	parleresti	crederesti	sentiresti
lui, lei, Lei	parlerebbe	crederebbe	sentirebbe
noi	parleremmo	crederemmo	sentiremmo
voi	parlereste	credereste	sentireste
loro	parlerebbero	crederebbero	sentirebbero

There are some irregular verbs to be aware of the in the conditional tense.听Dare, stare, fare and听dire drop the final听-e of their infinitives and form the stems听dar-,听star-,听far-and听dir-respectively. The stem of听essere is听sar-. These stems are then combined with the regular conditional-tense endings. For example:听

-听听Io ti darei un biscotto ma sono tutti finiti - I would give you a biscuit but they are all gone

- Potresti dire la verit脿 per favore? - Could you tell the truth please?

The verbs listed below also have an irregularly shortened stem in the conditional tense (usually, because the vowel听鈥榓鈥檕r听鈥榚鈥檌s dropped from the infinitive).

Irregular conditional tense stems:

andare听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听andr-

avere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听avr-

bere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听berr-

cadere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听cadr-

dovere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听dovr-

potere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听potr-

sapere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听sapr-

vedere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听vedr-

vivere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听vivr-

venire听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听verr-

volere听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听vorr-

If you鈥檙e writing the conditional tense, keep an eye out for the spelling of verbs. Those with infinitives ending in听-ciareand听-giaredrop the听鈥榠鈥檅efore adding the conditional endings to the root. For example:

-听听Tu cominceresti domani - You would start tomorrow

-听听Noi viaggeremmo volentieri - We would happily travel

Verbs with infinitives ending in听-careand听-gareadd an鈥榟鈥檛o the root for the conditional to preserve the hard sound of the听鈥榗鈥檕r听鈥榞鈥檕f the infinitive:

-听听Io cerchererei ma non ho tempo - I would look but I don鈥檛 have time

-听听听Loro pagherebbero ma non hanno soldi - They would pay but they don鈥檛 have any money

Here are more conditional sentences using some of the irregular verbs above:

Vorrei una pizza - I would like a pizza

Mi daresti il biglietto per l鈥檃utobus? - Would you give me a ticket for the bus?

Mi spiegherete le regole? - Would you explain the rules?

Noi verremmo volentieri- We would happily come

Potrei avere un bicchiere d鈥檃cqua? - Could I have a glass of water?

Loro vorrebbero andare - They would like to go