Unit 115 Guidebook: use conditionals

KEY PHRASES

Use conditionals

Saresti venuto con noi?
Would you have come with us?
Mi avresti potuto dire tutto.
You could have told me everything.
Non lo avrei fatto.
I would not have done it.
Mi avresti fatto molto felice.
You would have made me very happy.
Dove avresti trovato un'opportunità simile?
Where would you have found such an opportunity?
TIP

Avrei detto qualcosa

You've already seen that Italian uses a special verb form to say would, like penserei or offriresti.

Now we'll have a look at how to say things were possible in the past, like I would have called or you would have believed.

First, use the would form of avere that matches who you're talking about. Then change the next verb ending to ‑ato, ‑uto, or ‑ito.

Io avrei lasciato quel posto.
I would have left that place.
Avresti conosciuto mio cugino.
You would have met my cousin.

Usually, you'll use ‑ato for verbs that end in ‑are, ‑uto for ‑ere verbs, and ‑ito for ‑ire verbs.

TIP

Sarei arrivato in tempo

You've already seen how to say things like io avrei lavorato, which means I would have worked.

But for some verbs that talk about motion (like venire and andare), you'll use essere instead of avere.

Lei ha detto che sarebbe venuta.
She said that she would have come.
Non sarei andato senza di lui.
I would not have gone without him.

Remember that verbs that use avere always end in ‑o (‑ato, ‑uto, or ‑ito), while verbs that use essere have different endings (‑o, ‑a, ‑i, or ‑e) depending on gender and whether you're talking about one person or multiple people.

Voi sareste venuti con noi?
Would you have come with us?
Lei ci sarebbe andata.​
She would have gone there.
Io non sarei andata senza di lui.​
I would not have gone without him.