Italian V Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar

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81. Conditional Tenses

The conditional tense expresses "would" and is used with requests and doubts. It is also used in hypothetical situations with "if" clauses or with events or actions that may occur in the future, but probably won't. You will also see it in headlines of newspapers to indicate that something has not yet been proven to be true. To form the present conditional, use the future stem and these endings for all verbs.

-ei -esti -ebbe	-emmo -este -ebbero

As in the future tense, verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h after the c or g for pronunciation. Verbs endings in -ciare and -giare drop the final i in all forms of the present conditional. The verbs that have irregular future stems are also irregular in the conditional tense:

to be	essere	sar-	to remain, stay	rimanere	rimarr-
to have	avere	avr-	to drink	bere	berr-
to be, stay	stare	star-	to put, place	porre	porr-
to give	dare	dar-	to come	venire	verr-
to make	fare	far-	to translate	tradurre	tradurr-
to go	andare	andr-	to hold	tenere	terr-
to fall	cadere	cadr-	to draw, pull	trarre	trarr-
to have to, must	dovere	dovr-	to explain	spiegare	spiegher-
to be able to, can	potere	potr-	to pay	pagare	pagher-
to know (facts)	sapere	sapr-	to look for	cercare	cercher-
to see	vedere	vedr-	to forget	dimenticare	dimenticher-
to live (be alive)	vivere	vivr-	to eat	mangiare	manger-
to want	volere	vorr-	to begin	cominciare	comincer-

Gli parlerei, ma non è a casa. I would talk to him, but he's not at home.
Prendereste un caffè? Would you like some coffee?
Sarei più contenta. I would be happier.

→ The past conditional expresses the same basic idea as the present conditional. It is formed by using the present conditional of avere or essere and the past participle of the main verb. If the main clause is in the present tense, then the subordinate clause will either be in the present or past conditional in Italian.

Non so se lo potrebbe fare. I don't know if he would be able to do it.

However, if the main clause is in the past tense, then the subordinate clause MUST be in the past conditional in Italian:

Ha detto che sarebbe venuto. He said that he would come.

82. Car & Driving

accelerator	il acceleratore	hubcap	il coprimozzo
air conditioning	la climatizzazione	ignition	l'accensione (f)
air hose	la pompa pneumatica	jack	il cricco
automatic transmission	la trasmissione automatica	jumper cables	i cavi per l'avviamento
axle	l'asse (f)	license plate	la targa
battery	la batteria	manual transmission	la trasmissione manuale
body of car	la carrozzeria	motor	il motore
brake	il freno	mudguard	il parafango
brake light	la luce dei freni	oil	il olio
bulb	l'ampolla	oil can	l'oliatore
bumper	il paraurti	one way	senso unico
carburetor	il carburatore	pump	la pompa
chain	la catena	puncture	la bucatura
choke	l'aria	radiator	il radiatore
clutch	la frizione	rearview mirror	lo spechietto retrovisore
damage	l'avaria	registration	l'immatricolazione (f)
dashboard	il cruscotto	roof	il tetto
diesel	il diesel	seat	il sedile
door	lo sportello	seatbelt	la cintura di sicurezza
door handle	la maniglia	side mirror	lo spechietto laterale
driver's license	la patente	spare tire	la gomma di scorta
engine	il motore	spark	la scintilla
fender	il paraurti	spark plug	la candela
flat tire	la gomma a terra	spring	la molla
gas can	il bidone per la benzina	starter	l'avviamento
gas cap	il coperchio del serbatoio	steering wheel	il volante
gas pump	la pompa di benzina	stick shift	la leva del cambio
gas tank	il serbatoio della benzina	tire	la gomma
gasoline	la benzina	transmission	la trasmissione
gear	l'ingranaggio	trunk	il bagagliaio
grade crossing	il passaggio a livello	tube	la camera d'aria
headlight	il fanale	turn signal	la freccia
heater	il calorifero	valve	la valvola
hood	il cofano	wheel	la ruota
hood	il cofano	window	il finestrino
horn	la tromba	windshield	il parabrezza
horsepower	il cavallo vapore	windshield wiper	il tergicristallo

83. To Drive & to Translate

condurre - to drive		tradurre - to translate
conduco conduci conduce	conduciamo conducete conducono	traducco traduci traduce	traduciamo traducete traducono
Past participle: condotto		Past participle: tradotto

Other verbs that are conjugated similarly include: produrre (to produce) and ridurre (to reduce)

84. airport & train station

airport	l'aeroporto	luggage cart	il carrello
arrival	l'arrivo	luggage rack	la reticella portabagagli
ATM	il bancomat	luggage tag	l'etichetta del bagaglio
baggage allowance	la franchigia bagaglio	non smoking	non fumatori
baggage carousel	il nastro trasportatore	one-way ticket	il biglietto di sola andata
baggage check	il controllo dei bagagli	passenger	il passegiere
baggage return	il ritiro bagagli	passport	il passaporto
baggage/luggage	il bagaglio	platform	la piattaforma
bathroom	la toilette	railroad car	il bagagliaio
boarding pass	la carta d'imbarco	railroad coach/car	la carrozza / il vagone
border	la frontiera	railway	la ferrovia
bus stop	la fermata dell'autobus	reservation	la prenotazione
canceled	cancellato	round-trip ticket	il biglietto di andata e ritorno
car rental	l'autonoleggio	seat	il posto
checked baggage	il bagaglio da registrare	security gates	i varchi di sicurezza
compartment	lo scompartimento	sleeping car	la vettura letto
connection	la coincidenza	smoking	fumatori
currency exchange	l'ufficio cambio	stop	la fermata
customs	la dogana	subway	la metropolitana
delayed	ritardato	suitcase	la valigia
departure	la partenza	taxi stand	il posteggio dei taxi
dining car	il vagone ristorante	telephone	il telefono
entrance	l'entrata	ticket	il biglietto
excess baggage	il bagaglio eccedente	ticket collector	il controllore
exit	l'uscita	ticket office	la biglietteria
flight	il volo	time table	l'orario
gate	l'uscita	to validate (ticket)	convalidare
hand luggage/carry on	il bagaglio a mano	train	il treno
information booth	l'ufficio informazioni	train station	la stazione
left luggage lockers	il deposito bagagli automatico	visa	il visto
lost and found office	l'ufficio oggetti smarriti	waiting room	la sala d'aspetto

85. Location & Direction

above	sopra	here	qui / qua
abroad	all'estero	in	in
across from	di fronte a	in front of	davanti a
against	contro	in the middle of	in mezzo a
along	lungo	inside	dentro
among	tra / fra	near	vicino a
anywhere / wherever	dovunque	next to / beside	accanto a
around	intorno a	nowhere	in nessun
at / to	a	of	di
at home	in casa	on	su
at the end of	in fondo a	on the left	a sinistra
at the top of	in cima a	on the right	a destra
backward	indietro	on top	sopra
behind	dietro	outside	fuori
below / downstairs	giù / abbasso	over	sopra
between	tra / fra	over there	collà, laggiù
beyond	oltre	since / for	da
by	per	somewhere	in qualche luogo
down there	laggiù	straight	sempre diritto
downward	in giù	there	lì, là
elsewhere	altrove	through / across	attraverso / per
everywhere	dappertutto / dovunque	towards	verso
except	tranne	under	sotto
far (from)	lontano da	underneath	disotto
for	per	until	fino a
forward	avanti	up / upstairs	sopra
from	da	upward	insù

86. Use of the Infinitive

The infinitive can be used after certain prepositions, such as per, prima di and senza; whereas in English, the gerund form is usually used.

Siamo pronti per uscire. We are ready to go out.
Prima di partire. Before leaving.
Senza dire niente. Without saying anything.

The past infinitive may be used after senza and dopo. It is formed with the auxiliaries essere or avere and the past participle of the verb. The final -e of the auxiliary verb is commonly dropped.

Sono venuti senza aver telefonato. They came without having telephoned.
È ritornata dopo aver comprato i biglietti. She returned after having bought the tickets.

The infinitive may also function as a noun. In this case, the English translation is also the gerund form.

Viaggiare è stanca. Travelling is tiring.

Letting, seeing or hearing someone do something is expressed by the forms of lasciare, vedere and sentire plus the infinitive.

Ho sentito cantare Teresa. I heard Teresa singing.
Ho veduto dormire i bambini. I saw the children sleeping.

87. Subjunctive Mood: Present & Present Perfect

The subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions, etc. and is used very frequently in Italian. It is mainly used in dependent clauses (sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not have a complete meaning) that are introduced by che.

The present subjunctive of regular verbs is formed by dropping the normal endings, and adding these new endings:

-are		-ere		1st -ire		2nd -ire
-i -i -i	-iamo -iate -ino	-a -a -a	-iamo -iate -ano	-a -a -a	-iamo -iate -ano	-isca -isca -isca	-iamo -iate -iscano

Verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h before all endings of the present subjunctive. Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare drop the i from their stems.

Many common verbs have irregular present subjunctive forms:

avere			essere			andare			bere			dare			dire
abbia abbia abbia	abbiamo abbiate abbiano		sia sia sia	siamo siate siano		vada vada vada	andiamo andiate vadano		beva beva beva	beviamo beviate bevano		dia dia dia	diamo diate diano		dica dica dica	diciamo diciate dicano

dovere		fare		potere		sapere
debba debba debba	dobbiamo dobbiate debbano	faccia faccia faccia	facciamo facciate facciano	possa possa possa	possiamo possiate possano	sappia sappia sappia	sappiamo sappiate sappiano

stare		uscire		venire		volere
stia stia stia	stiamo stiate stiano	esca esca esca	usciamo usciate escano	venga venga venga	veniamo veniate vengano	voglia voglia voglia	vogliamo vogliate vogliano

Penso che lui abbia ragione. I think that he's right.
Voglio che tu prenda una decisione. I want you to make a decision.

→ The present perfect subjunctive is formed with the present subjunctive of avere or essere and the past participle of the main verb.

Credo che abbiano fatto sciopero. I think they went on strike.

88. Uses of the Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive is used after verbs expressing hope, wish, desire, command or doubt such as sperare - to hope, desiderare - to desire, volere - to want, and dubitare - to doubt. But verbs that express certainty or fact used in the affirmative sense (and not negative) require the indicative, such as essere sicuro - to be sure, essere certo - to be certain, and sapere - to know. And if the subject of both verbs in the sentence is the same, use di with the infinitive instead of the subjunctive.

Dubito che loro vengano. I doubt that they're coming.
Spero che lei vinca. I hope that she wins.
Non so se i musei siano aperti. I don't know if the museums are open.
So che i musei sono aperti. I know that the museums are open. (expresses certainty, so no subjunctive)
Non credo di averlo perso. I don't think that I lost it. (same subject, so simply use di)

→ The subjunctive is also used after impersonal expressions, usually essere and an adjective or adverb, unless they state a fact. Some common expressions are è necessario - it's necessary, è meglio - it's better, è possibile - it's possible, and è probabile - it's probable. The indicative is used after these expressions of certainty: è certo - it's certain, è sicuro - it's sure, and è vero - it's true.

→ Certain conjunctions require the subjunctive as well, such as a meno che... non - unless, sebbene - even though, benché / per quanto - although, affinché / perché - so that, prima che - before, senza che - without, a condizione che / purché - provided that, and nel caso che - in the event that. The subjunctive is also used after il primo.. che, l'ultimo..che, and il solo...che as well as in dependent clauses beginning with an indefinite: chiunque - whoever, comunque - however, dovunque - wherever, qualunque - whatever.

89. Subjunctive Mood: Imperfect & Past Perfect

The imperfect subjunctive is formed by adding the same set of endings to all infinitives, minus -re. The stem vowel of the infinitive must be kept (either a, e or i).

all verbs
-ssi -ssi -sse	-ssimo -ste -ssero

Some common verbs have irregular imperfect subjunctive forms:

essere		stare		dare
fossi fossi fosse	fossimo foste fossero	stessi stessi stesse	stessimo steste stessero	dessi dessi desse	dessimo deste dessero

fare		dire		bere
facessi facessi facesse	facessimo faceste facessero	dicessi dicessi dicesse	dicessimo diceste dicessero	bevessi bevessi bevesse	bevessimo beveste bevessero

→ The imperfect subjunctive is often used after come se (as if).

Parla come se sapesse tutto. He talks as if he knew everything.

→ When the verb of the main clause is in a past tense or the conditional, then the verb in the dependent clause will be in the imperfect subjunctive if that action took place at the same time or later than the action in the independent clause.

Non c'era nessuno che mi capisse. There was no one who understood me.

→ The past perfect subjunctive is formed with the imperfect subjunctive of avere or essere plus the past participle of the main verb.

Speravo che avessero capito. I was hoping that they had understood.

→ When the verb of the main clause is in a past tense or the conditional, then the verb in the dependent clause will be in the past perfect subjunctive if that action took place before the action in the independent clause.

Era il più bello film che io avessi mai visto. It was the most beautiful film I had ever seen.

→ The imperfect subjunctive is used in hypothetical clauses beginning with se (if), when the verb of the main clause is in the conditional tense. In English, the simple past tense is used instead; however, in both languages either the se clause or the main clause can begin the sentence.

Andrei al cinema se avessi tempo. I would go to the movies if I had time.
Se avessi tempo, andrei al cinema. If I had time, I would go to the movies.

90. More Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense

morire-to die		porre-to put, place		rimanere-to remain		salire-to go up
muoio	moriamo	pongo	poniamo	rimango	rimaniamo	salgo	saliamo
muori	morite	poni	ponete	rimani	rimanete	sali	salite
muore	muoiono	pone	pongono	rimane	rimangono	sale	salgono

scegliere-to choose		spegnere-to turn off		sedere-to sit		trarre-to obtain
scelgo	scegliamo	spengo	spegniamo	siedo	sediamo	traggo	traiamo
scegli	scegliete	spegni	spegnete	siedi	sedete	trai	traete
sceglie	scelgono	spegnere	spengono	siede	siedono	trae	traggono

Verbs that have the same root suffix will be conjugated the same:

porre → proporre (to propose, suggest), esporre (to expose, display)
scegliere → togliere (to take off, remove), cogliere (to gather), raccogliere (to collect, harvest)
trarre → distrarre (to distract), attrarre (to attract)