The present conditional tense (condizionale presente) is equivalent to the English constructions of "would" + verb (for example: I would never forget). Forming conditionals is easy: just take any verb, drop the final -e in its infinitive form, and add an appropriate ending—endings are the same for all three conjugation groups of verbs. The only spelling change occurs with -are verbs, which change the a of the infinitive ending to e. For details, see the table below.
CONJUGATING VERBS IN THE PRESENT CONDITIONAL
PRONOUN
PARLARE
CREDERE
SENTIRE
io
parlerei
crederei
sentirei
tu
parleresti
crederesti
sentiresti
lui/lei/Lei
parlerebbe
crederebbe
sentirebbe
noi
parleremmo
crederemmo
sentiremmo
voi
parlereste
credereste
sentireste
loro/Loro
parlerebbero
crederebbero
sentirebbero
Reflexive verbs follow the same scheme, with the addition of the reflexive pronounsmi, ti, si, ci, vi, or si when conjugating them: mi laverei, ti laveresti, si laverebbe, ci laveremmo, vi lavereste, si laverebbero. Here are some examples of conditional-tense sentences:
Vorrei un caffè. (I would like a coffee.) Scriverei a mia madre, ma non ho tempo. (I would write to my mother, but I don't have time.) Mi daresti il biglietto per la partita? (Would you give me a ticket for the game?)
| 