Italian Present Conditional Tense

The present conditional tense (condizionale presente) is equivalent to the English constructions of "would" plus 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.

What Does a Reflexive Verb Look Like?

Reflexive verbs follow the same scheme, with the addition of the reflexive pronouns mi, ti, si, ci, vi, or si when conjugating them: mi laverei, ti laveresti, si laverebbe, ci laveremmo, vi lavereste, si laverebbero.

In Italian, a reflexive verb is one when the action carried out by the subject is performed on the same subject. So for example, “I wash myself” or “I sit myself in the chair." The subject, “I," am doing the washing and the sitting.

It’s important to know that not all verbs are reflexive, but there are plenty out there and each must be memorized.

In order to make an Italian verb reflexive, drop the -e of its infinitive ending and add the pronoun si. For example, pettinare (to comb) becomes pettinarsi (to comb oneself) in the reflexive. Si is an additional pronoun, known as the reflexive pronoun, which is needed when conjugating reflexive verbs.

Note that some reflexive verbs can be used without the reflexive pronouns.

In this case, their meaning changes:

- Alzarsi = to wake up/to get up

Tu ti alzi. (You get up.)

Tu alzi la sedia. (You lift the chair.)

Conditional-Tense Sentences

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?)

The table below provides examples of three regular Italian verbs (one of each class) conjugated in the present conditional tense.

Italian Workbook Exercises

Questions | Answers
Present Conditional Tense
A. Complete the following sentences using the condizionale presente of the verbs in parentheses.

1. Io ________________ mangiare la pizza. (preferire)
2. Che cosa Le ________________ fare? (piacere)
3. Noi ________________cercare subito un parcheggio. (dovere)
4. Lui ________________ noleggiare una macchina. (volere)
5. ________________ darmi l'orario dei treni? (potere)
6. Le ragazze ________________, ma non ricordano le parole. (cantare)
7. Teresa ________________ tedesco, m non ricorda i verbi. (parlare)
8. Tu ________________ di non capire, ma sei impulsivo. (fingere)
9. Gli studenti ________________ i corsi, ma non è obbligatorio. (frequentare)
10. Voi ________________ il segreto, ma non sapete come. (scoprire)

CONJUGATING ITALIAN VERBS IN THE PRESENT CONDITIONAL TENSE