Would, could, should: vorrei, potrei, dovresti

Future stem + -ei, -esti, -ebbe…

Take the stem of the future and add the conditional endings. They’re the same for every verb: -ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero.

As in the future, -are verbs change their a to e: parlare → parler-. -ere and -ire verbs keep their vowel: prender-, partir-. Watch noi: the future parleremo has one m and means we will speak; the conditional parleremmo has two and means we would speak.

There’s no -ebbi ending. Io is -ei (parlerei), tu is -esti (parleresti).

Spelling: the future’s rules carry over

Verbs in -care and -gare add an h to keep the hard sound: cercherei, pagherei. Verbs in -ciare and -giare drop the i: comincerei, mangerei.

Dare and stare keep their a, as in the future darò, starò: darei, starei. Fare does the same: farei.

Irregular stems

Any verb with an irregular future has the same irregular conditional. Some drop a vowel: andare → andrei, avere → avrei, potere → potrei, dovere → dovrei, sapere → saprei, vedere → vedrei, vivere → vivrei.

Others end up with a double r: volere → vorrei, venire → verrei, bere → berrei, rimanere → rimarrei, tenere → terrei. And essere becomes sarei.

Not sure of a form? Say the future io form, then swap -ò for -ei: vorrò → vorrei.

Polite requests

The conditional softens a request, much like could and would in English. Vorrei replaces the blunt voglio; potrebbe and potresti replace può and puoi.

Choose the person carefully. With a stranger, a waiter or a receptionist, use Lei: potrebbe, avrebbe, mi darebbe. With a friend, use tu: potresti, avresti.

Wishes and what-ifs

Mi piacerebbe + infinitive says what you’d love to do. Like mi piace, it agrees with the thing that’s liked: mi piacerebbe viaggiare, but a Giulia piacerebbero questi fiori.

The conditional also describes imagined situations. For now, set the condition with a short phrase (con più tempo, con più soldi, senza di te) or add a ma clause: Verrei volentieri, ma devo lavorare. Full if sentences come later.

English also says would for past habits: As a child I would go to the beach. That’s the imperfetto in Italian: andavo. Only an imagined would is conditional.

Advice: dovresti, al tuo posto

English has a special word for advice, should. Italian simply uses the conditional of dovere: dovresti (you should), dovrei (I should). Devi is a firm you must; dovresti is friendly advice.

To say if I were you, start with al tuo posto (or al posto tuo) and add a conditional: Al tuo posto, andrei dal medico.

In the news: reported, not confirmed

Newspapers and TV news use the conditional for information they haven’t confirmed: il ministro sarebbe a Roma means the minister is reportedly in Rome. English adds reportedly, apparently or is said to; Italian just changes the verb.

You’ll often see it after secondo (according to): secondo il giornale, secondo alcune fonti.

Common mistakes

• Parlarei con il capo.Parlerei con il capo.-are verbs swap a for e, as in the future: parler-.
• Tu cosa farebbi?Tu cosa faresti?There’s no -ebbi ending. Tu ends in -esti.
• Verremo volentieri, ma lavoriamo. (we would)Verremmo volentieri, ma lavoriamo.One m is the future, we will. We would has two: -emmo.
• Anderei al mare.Andrei al mare.Andare uses its short future stem: andr-.
• Mi piacerei viaggiare.Mi piacerebbe viaggiare.With piacere, what you like is the subject: mi piacerebbe.
• Da bambino andrei al mare ogni estate.Da bambino andavo al mare ogni estate.A past habit is the imperfetto, even when English says would.
• Scusi, potresti aiutarmi? (to a stranger)Scusi, potrebbe aiutarmi?With Lei, use the lui/lei form: potrebbe.

The full table

Take the future stem, then add the conditional ending.

-are swaps a for e: parlare → parlerei. -care/-gare add an h: cercherei, pagherei.

Noi has two m’s: parleremmo (would), not parleremo (will).

Use it to ask politely (Potrebbe…?), wish (Mi piacerebbe…), advise (Dovresti…) and report unconfirmed news (sarebbe).