NOTES
(from Duolingo)

The conditional is another grammatical mood, and simply put, it’s the Italian equivalent of the English verbs “would”, “could”, “might” and “should.”

  • Lo farei solo per te.  (I would do it only for you.)
  • Lei potrebbe leggere un libro. (She could/might read a book.)
  • Tu dovresti essere qui. (You should be here.)

So, in Italian instead of “could” and “might” you use the conditional of the verb potere (can, to be able to), instead of should you use the conditional of dovere (must), and instead of “would…” you just use the conditional, because there’s no need for an additional verb.

The conditional is formed by taking the root of the future tense, and adding these endings:

AMARE VEDERE CAPIRE
io amerei vedrei capirei
tu ameresti vedresti capiresti
lui, lei amerebbe vedrebbe capirebbe
noi ameremmo vedremmo capiremmo
voi amereste vedreste capireste
loro amerebbero vedrebbero capirebbero

NOTES
(by DuoItalian)

One of the more commonly used conditional verbs (in everyday conversation) is the irregular volere (to want). However, in this case it is used to say or ask what you “would like.”

  • Che cosa vorresti bere, signore? (What would you like to drink, sir?)
  • Vorrei una birra, per favore. (I would like a beer, please.)
  • Dove vorreste mangiare stasera? (Where would you like to eat tonight?)
  • Vorremo mangiare al ristorante di Marco. (We would like to eat at Marco’s restaurant.)

As you can see from these examples, it is often used with an infinitive to say or ask what you “would like to do.”

VOLERE
io vorrei I would like
tu vorresti you would like
lui,lei vorrebbe he,she would like
noi vorremo we would like
voi vorreste you (all) would like
loro vorrebbero they would like

TIP: You can also obviously use piacere (to like) in the conditional to say what you “would like.” It is just not as commonly utilized in this manner and may be slightly more difficult for beginners.

  • Mi piacerebbe vedere quel film. (I would like to see that movie.)
VOCABULARY
(from Duolingo)
lavorerebberothey would work
prenderebberothey would take
avrebbehe would have
sarebbehe would be
darestiyou would give
fareiI would make
stareiI would stay
andrebberothey would go
potrebbehe would be able to
sapreiI would know (something)
vedreiI would see
vivrebbehe would live
vorremmowe would want
leggeresteyou (all) would read
verrestiyou would come
parlereiI would talk
diremmowe would say
scrivereiI would write
finiresteyou (all) would finish
conoscerestiyou would know (someone)
troverebbehe would find
pensereiI would think
metterebbehe would put
porterestiyou would take
crederebberothey would believe
lascerebbehe would leave
capirebbehe would understand
sentireiI would feel
terraiI would keep
diventerebbehe would become
passeremmowe would pass
entrerebbehe would enter
morirebberothey would die
piacerebbehe would like
guarderemmowe would look
aprirebbehe would open
unireiI would join
cambierebbehe would change
offrirebbehe would offer
suonerestiyou would play (instrument)
perderemmowe would lose
proverebbehe would try
costuireiI would build

 

Study and Test Yourself