Last Update: Sunday, April 6, 2008

Italian V Tutorial

Italian Index | Italian I | Italian II | Italian III | Italian IV

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.

To form the present conditional, use the future stem and these endings for the three types of verbs.  (The verbs that have irregular future forms are also irregular in the conditional tense.)

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.

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.

Dovere, potere, and volere all have irregular forms in the present conditional:

The past conditional expresses the same basic idea as the present conditional.  It is used to express unfulfilled requests, situations that did not occur, or events which had the possibility to fulfill themselves, but didn't.  It is formed by using the present conditional of avere or essere and the past participle of the main verb.  One difference between English and Italian usage of the past conditional is that when expressing a future action from the viewpoint of the past, Italian uses the past conditional whereas English uses the present conditional.

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

82. Parts of a Car / Gas Station

83. To Drive

84. Travelling / Airport

85. Directional Words

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 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 sing.
Ho veduto dormire i bambini.  I saw the children sleep.

87. Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions, etc. and is used much more 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:

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:

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

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.
Non credo di averlo perso.  I don't think that I lost it.

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 sebbene - even though, benché - although, affinché - so that, prima che - before, purché - provided that, as long as and nel caso che - in the event that.  The subjunctive is also used after a relative superlative che, and after il primo.. che, l'ultimo..che, and il solo...che.

89. Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronouns replace a noun, and they have the same forms as the possessive adjectives.  They always require an article, unless the possessive pronoun follows the verb essere, in which case it is omitted.

Non parlo a tua madre. Parlo alla mia.  I'm not talking to your mother.  I'm talking to mine.
Questa macchina è mia.  This car is mine.

90. The Farm

91. Historical Past

The historical past or past absolute is used to indicate a completed action, and is used mainly in writing and rarely in speech.  It is not a compound tense, and is formed by dropping the regular stems of the verbs and adding these endings:

Avere and essere and many other verbs are irregular in the historical past:

The following verbs are irregular only in the io, lui/lei and loro forms.  The verbs are all either -ere or -ire verbs, so use the irregular stem for these three forms and add these endings: -i, -e, -ero.  Use the regular stem and regular endings for the other three forms.

The past perfect of the historical past is formed the same way as the past perfect of the indicative.  Just add the past participle to the historical past of avere or essere.

Regions of Italy

Italian Index | Italian I | Italian II | Italian III | Italian IV

© 1997 - 2008 Jennifer Wagner | ielanguages [at] gmail [dot] com