The Past Conditional — Il Condizionale Passato
In English the equivalent tense/mood is made with the
auxiliaries would have: e.g.—
- I would have gone, if I had been invited.
- He would have earned more money in the States.
In Italian this is a compound tense (i.e.made with more than one word). It
is made with the present conditional tense of the auxiliary verb (avere
or essere) and the past participle of the verb. Study the table below:
|
parlare
|
finire
|
arrivare
|
partire
|
vestirsi
|
| avrei parlato |
avrei finito |
sarei arrivato/a |
sarei partito/a |
mi sarei vestito/a |
| avresti parlato |
avresti finito |
saresti arrivato/a |
saresti partito/a |
ti saresti vestito/a |
| avrebbe parlato |
avrebbe finito |
sarebbe arrivato/a |
sarebbe partito/a |
si sarebbe vestito/a |
| avremmo parlato |
avremmo finito |
saremmo arrivati/e |
saremmo partiti/e |
ci saremmo vestiti/e |
| avreste parlato |
avreste finito |
sareste arrivati/e |
sareste partiti/e |
vi sareste vestiti/e |
| avrebbero parlato |
avrebbero finito |
sarebbero arrivati/e |
sarebbero partiti/e |
si sarebbero vestiti/e |
So, when do you use it?
- to express a past intention or wish that can no longer be fulfilled:
- I would have booked the hotel last week; now it's too late.
Avrei prenotato l'albergo la settimana scorsa; adesso è
troppo tardi.
Maria would have come to the party but she is ill.
Maria sarebbe venuta alla festa ma sta male.
-
- to express "the future in the past" — i.e. in reported speech
to express a future action from a point of view in the past: e.g.
- She said yesterday that she would come.
Lei ha detto ieri che sarebbe venuta.
-
- I knew that it would be difficult.
Ho saputo che sarebbe stato difficile.
-
- My father promised that he would buy me a car for my birthday.
Mio padre ha promesso che mi avrebbe comprato una macchina
per il mio compleanno.
-
- The "future in the past" is a difficult piece of grammar but you
might want to use it in Higher writing. In essence you use the past conditional
when the clause introduced by "that" in English, or "che"
in Italian follows a verb in the past tense. In English the verb in the "that"
clause sounds like a conditional, but in Italian it has to be past conditional.
- The modal verbs: potere (can), dovere (must/
have to), and volere (want) need a bit of care:
avrei potuto = I could have
avrei dovuto = I should have
avrei voluto = I would have liked to
For Example:
- Claudia could sit her exams next week; she could have sat them all last
week.
Claudia potrebbe fare gli esami la settimana prossima; avrebbe potuto
farli la settimana scorsa.
- You should go to the doctor's; you should have gone yesterday
Dovresti andare dal medico; avresti dovuto andare ieri.
- Giorgio would have liked to accompany you.
Giorgio avrebbe voluto accompagnarti.
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