The lesson
You know the present conditional: Verrei volentieri (I’d love to come). Put it in the past and you get the past conditional, the condizionale passato: Sarei venuto volentieri (I’d have loved to come). It’s the tense of plans that fell through, missed chances and I told you so.
The form is easy: avrei or sarei + past participle, with the same helper as the passato prossimo. The hard part for English speakers is one use: after a past verb like ha detto, English says he would come, but Italian says sarebbe venuto, literally he would have come.
avrei or sarei + past participle
Put the helper in the present conditional and add the past participle. Verbs with avere use avrei, avresti, avrebbe, avremmo, avreste, avrebbero; verbs with essere use sarei, saresti, sarebbe, saremmo, sareste, sarebbero. Irregular participles stay irregular: avrei fatto, avrebbe detto, sarebbe rimasto.
Watch noi: avremmo and saremmo have two m’s. With one m, avremo and saremo are the future: we will have, we will be.
| comprare (avere) | venire (essere) | |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrei comprato | sarei venuto/a |
| tu | avresti comprato | saresti venuto/a |
| lui · lei · Lei | avrebbe comprato | sarebbe venuto/a |
| noi | avremmo comprato | saremmo venuti/e |
| voi | avreste comprato | sareste venuti/e |
| loro | avrebbero comprato | sarebbero venuti/e |
Essere verbs, reflexives and piacere
Verbs that take essere in the passato prossimo use sarei, and the participle agrees: Marco sarebbe venuto, Anna sarebbe venuta, i ragazzi sarebbero venuti. Reflexive verbs keep their pronoun: mi sarei fermato, vi sareste divertiti.
Piacere takes essere too, and agrees with the thing liked: Mi sarebbe piaciuto vivere a Roma, Ti sarebbero piaciute quelle scarpe.
Would have, but didn’t
The main use: something that would have happened, but didn’t. The reason often follows with ma and the imperfetto: Sarei venuto, ma ero malato.
Compare the two conditionals. The present one is for now or later: Verrei, ma sono malato (I’d come, but I’m ill). The past one is for something that’s over: Sarei venuto, ma ero malato (I’d have come, but I was ill).
| When? | Example |
|---|---|
| now or later | Verrei, ma sono malato. |
| it’s over | Sarei venuto, ma ero malato. |
With se + pluperfect subjunctive it makes a full past if-clause: Se l’avessi saputo, sarei venuto. More on that in the next topic.
Should have, could have: avrei dovuto, avrei potuto
With a modal you can look back with regret or criticism. Avrei dovuto + infinitive is I should have; avrei potuto is I could have; avrei voluto is I would have liked to. The second verb stays in the infinitive: avrei dovuto partire, never avrei dovuto partito.
Turn it to tu and it’s a reproach: Avresti dovuto dirmelo! (You should have told me!) In conversation you’ll also hear Dovevi dirmelo!; both are correct.
If the infinitive takes essere, either helper is fine: sarei dovuto partire or avrei dovuto partire.
He said he would: the future in the past
This is the big trap for English speakers. After a past verb of saying, promising, knowing or believing, a later action goes in the past conditional: Ha detto che sarebbe venuto (He said he would come). English says would come, so it’s tempting to say verrebbe, but for a later action seen from the past that’s always wrong.
It doesn’t matter whether it then came true or not: Ero sicuro che avrebbe vinto, e ha vinto. If the event is still ahead of us today, you’ll also hear the plain future: Ha detto che verrà domani.
| English | Italian |
|---|---|
| He said he would come. | Ha detto che sarebbe venuto. |
| I was sure she would win. | Ero sicuro che avrebbe vinto. |
| You promised you would call me. | Mi avevi promesso che mi avresti chiamato. |
Reportedly: news that isn’t confirmed
Like the present conditional, the past conditional reports news nobody has confirmed, but about something that has already happened. English adds reportedly or apparently; Italian changes the verb, often after secondo (according to).
Here it doesn’t mean would have at all: il ladro sarebbe fuggito just means the thief reportedly escaped.
Which *would*?
English would covers four different things in Italian. Before you choose a form, ask yourself which one you mean.
| English | Italian |
|---|---|
| I would like a coffee. (now) | Vorrei un caffè. |
| I would have come. (but didn’t) | Sarei venuto. |
| He said he would come. (later, seen from the past) | Ha detto che sarebbe venuto. |
| As a child I would play outside. (a habit) | Da bambino giocavo fuori. |
Common mistakes
- Ha detto che verrebbe.Ha detto che sarebbe venuto.A later action after a past verb of saying takes the past conditional.
- Ero sicuro che vincerebbe.Ero sicuro che avrebbe vinto.Seen from the past, would win is avrebbe vinto.
- Avrei andato al mare.Sarei andato al mare.Andare takes essere: sarei andato.
- Giulia sarebbe venuto.Giulia sarebbe venuta.With essere the participle agrees: Giulia is feminine.
- Dovresti dirmelo ieri.Avresti dovuto dirmelo ieri.Dovresti is you should, now. For the past: avresti dovuto.
- Avrei dovuto partito prima.Avrei dovuto partire prima.After a modal the verb stays in the infinitive.
- Avremo comprato la casa, ma costava troppo.Avremmo comprato la casa, ma costava troppo.Two m’s for would: avremmo. Avremo is the future.
The full table
Helper in the present conditional + past participle. The helper is the same as in the passato prossimo.
| io | avrei comprato · sarei venuto/a |
| tu | avresti comprato · saresti venuto/a |
| lui · lei · Lei | avrebbe comprato · sarebbe venuto/a |
| noi | avremmo comprato · saremmo venuti/e |
| voi | avreste comprato · sareste venuti/e |
| loro | avrebbero comprato · sarebbero venuti/e |
| modals | avrei dovuto · avrei potuto · avrei voluto + infinitive |
Would have, but didn’t: sarei venuto, ma ero malato.
After a past verb of saying or thinking, a later action: ha detto che sarebbe venuto, never verrebbe.
News not yet confirmed: il ladro sarebbe fuggito.
In short
- Form: avrei / sarei + past participle, with the passato prossimo helper; essere verbs agree.
- Would have, but didn’t: Sarei venuto, ma ero malato.
- Regret and criticism: avrei dovuto, avrei potuto, avrei voluto + infinitive.
- After a past verb of saying or thinking, a later action: Ha detto che sarebbe venuto*, never verrebbe*.
- In the news: il ladro sarebbe fuggito** = the thief reportedly escaped.