Page 38 - verbo italiano

28 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

In Italian, the trapassato remoto is formed by combining the past definite of the
appropriate helping verb (avere: ebbi, avesti, ebbe, avemmo, aveste, ebbero or essere:
fui, fosti, fu, fummo, foste, furono) with the past participle of the main verb.

The Conditional Mood

The conditional mood allows a softening of the tone of a request or advice, as
in “I would like a glass of water” instead of “I want a glass of water.” It makes it
possible to dissociate oneself with what is being said and to express what would
occur under certain conditions or circumstances. In Italian, there is one simple
and one corresponding compound tense. The simple conditional corresponds to
English “would + verb infinitive” and the perfect conditional corresponds to Eng-
lish “would have + past participle.”

PRESENT (SIMPLE) CONDITIONAL

Like its English equivalent, it is used to add politeness to:
• Requests: Vorrei noleggiare una macchina. (“I would like to rent a car.”)
• Wishes: Sarebbe bello incontrarsi di nuovo. (“It would be nice to meet
again.”)
• Preferences: Preferirei non uscire. (“I would rather not go out.”)
• Advice: Dovresti smettere di fumare. (“You should quit smoking.”)
• Offers: Vorresti venire con noi? (“Would you like to come with us?”)

The conditional may be used by reporters and journalists to describe an action
that is unsure or not known to be true.
Si dice che l’attore sarebbe a Firenze. It is rumored (said) that the actor is in
Florence.

The present conditional is used in conditional sentences. See the “Conditional Sen-
tences” section. See page 52 for the use of conditional with the verbs volere, dovere,
and potere.

Note that when the English “would” is used to express “used to,” the imperfect is
used in Italian:
Ogni domenica andavamo al cinema. Every Sunday we would (used to) go
to the movies.

Also, to express actions that, in the past, were perceived as occurring in the future,
English uses the simple conditional while Italian uses the past conditional (see
next section on Perfect Conditional).
The simple conditional is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the
endings shown in Table 11. Note that in –are verbs, the –a of the infinitive ending
changes to –e (parlare: parler–), while –ere and –ire verbs maintain the characteris-
tic vowel.