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Italian Grammar Lessons: Conditional Past

The conditional past is formed with the conditional form of the auxiliary verb ‘essere’ or ‘avere’ and the past participle of the main verb.

It’s used to describe:

– unrealizable situations
– the ‘future in the past’
– past expectations which were not fulfilled

Below are the conditional past conjugations of the two auxiliary verbs, along with one conjunction from each of the verb groups.

Don’t forget, when you use the auxiliary verb ‘essere, the past participle needs to be masculine or feminine according to the gender of the subject.

Essere [to be]

io sarei stato/a
tu saresti stato/a
lui/lei sarebbe stato/a
noi saremmo stati/e
voi sareste stati/e
loro sarebbero stati/e

Avere [to have]

io avrei avuto
tu avresti avuto
lui/lei avrebbe avuto
noi avremmo avuto
voi avreste avuto
loro avrebbero avuto

First group verbs -are:

cantare [to sing]

io avrei cantato
tu avresti cantato
lui/lei avrebbe cantato
noi avremmo cantato
voi avreste cantato
loro avrebbero cantato

Second group verbs -ere:

mettere [to put]

io avrei messo
tu avresti messo
lui/lei avrebbe messo
noi avremmo messo
voi avreste messo
loro avrebbero messo

Third group verbs -ire:

aprire [to open]

io avrei aperto
tu avresti aperto
lui/lei avrebbe aperto
noi avremmo aperto
voi avreste aperto
loro avrebbero aperto

Here are some examples of the conditional past, with translations into English:

Sarei venuto volentieri alla tua festa ma purtroppo avevo la febbre.
[I would have gladly come to your party but unfortunately I had a temperature.]

Avrei preso un medicinale per il mal di pancia ma non avevo nulla con me.
[I’d have taken some medicine for my stomach ache but I didn’t have anything with me.]

Non immaginavo che un giorno tu e Carla vi sareste sposati.
[I never thought that one day you and Carla would get married.]

Immaginavi che avrei fatto diversamente?
[Were you thinking that I’d have done things differently?]

Back to Italian lesson on: conditional past

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