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30 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

Infinitive Conditional Regular Endings
Stem (–ei, –esti, –ebbe, –emmo, –este, –ebbero)
bere (“to drink”) berr– berrei, berresti, berrebbe, berremmo, berreste, berrebbero
rimanere (“to remain”) rimarr– rimarrei, rimarresti, rimarrebbe, rimarremmo, rimarreste, rimarrebbero
tenere (“to keep”) terr– terrei, terresti, terrebbe, terremmo, terreste, terrebbero
venire (“to come”) verr– verrei, verresti, verrebbe, verremmo, verreste, verrebbero
volere (“to want”) vorr– vorrei, vorresti, vorrebbe, vorremmo, vorreste, vorrebbero

PERFECT CONDITIONAL
In Italian, the perfect conditional is formed by combining the present conditional
of the appropriate helping verb (avere: avrei, avresti, avrebbe, avremmo, avreste,
avrebbero or essere: sarei, saresti, sarebbe, saremmo, sareste, sarebbero) plus the past
participle of the main verb. See the “Past Participle” section for an explanation on
forming the Italian past participle, and see the section “Avere or Essere?” for an
explanation of when to use essere or avere as auxiliary verbs.
The following chart shows examples of the formation of the perfect conditional.
The auxiliary verbs avere and essere are in the conditional present. The past parti-
ciple of the verbs lavorare, ricevere, dormire, and arrivare are given. The past par-
ticiple agrees with the subject in number and gender when the verb is conjugated
with essere.

Perfect Conditional with avere Perfect Conditional with essere
(io) avrei lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sarei arrivato/arrivata
(tu) avresti lavorato/ricevuto/dormito saresti arrivato/arrivata
(lui/lei) avrebbe lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sarebbe arrivato/arrivata
(noi) avremmo lavorato/ricevuto/dormito saremmo arrivati/arrivate
(voi) avreste lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sareste arrivati/arrivate
(loro) avrebbero lavorato/ricevuto/dormito sarebbero arrivati/arrivate

The perfect conditional expresses an unfulfilled action in the past and action that
cannot be fulfilled in the present and or future. It can convey a sense of regret.
L’estate scorsa mi sarebbe piaciuto Last summer I would have liked to go
andare in Sicilia. to Sicily (but I didn’t).
Avrei cenato volentieri a casa, ma I would have had dinner at home, but
il frigorifero è vuoto. the refrigerator is empty.

The perfect conditional is also used to report actions that, in the past, were per-
ceived as occurring in the future (the future seen from the point of view of the
past), which English expresses with simple conditional.
Lunedì ha detto che mercoledì On Monday he said he would come
sarebbe venuto. on Wednesday.
Mario disse che sarebbe arrivato Mario said he would arrive on time.
in orario.

Like the conditional, the conditional perfect is used by reporters and journalists to
describe an action that is unconfirmed and to dissociate/distance oneself from the
uncertain reported news.
I due attori si sarebbero sposati The two actors are presumed to have
a Venezia. been married in Venice.