How to use the past conditional in Italian?

The past conditional is used to express a wish or a desire, as well as to make hypotheses about what could have happened in the past. For instance, when you find yourself in the situation of having to explain why you changed a plan, why you could not do something you intended to do, in Italian you would use the past conditional.

In English, the past conditional is most often the equivalent of “would have + verb-ed.” How do you form the past conditional in Italian? Keep reading to find out! One day you don't want to find yourself saying to a friend Se solo avessi letto quel post, ieri avrei usato bene condizionale passato! (meaning If only I had read that post, yesterday I would have used past conditional well!)

The past conditional is a compound tense. This means that, like all other Italian compound tenses (e.g. passato prossimo, congiuntivo trapassato, and so on), you need two words to form it. For the past conditional, those two words are:

1. the present conditional of either avere (meaning to have) or essere (meaning to be) (depending on the verb) functioning as an auxiliary verb.

   Subject Pronoun	Present conditional of avere (meaning to have)	Present conditional of essere (meaning to be)
   io	avrei	sarei
   tu	avresti	saresti
   lui/lei/Lei	avrebbe	saresti
   noi	avremmo	saremmo
   voi	avreste	sareste
   loro	avrebbero	sarebbero

2. the past participle of the verb, which can be regular (ending in -ato, -uto, or -ito) or an irregular Italian past participle.

   Take a look at the full conjugations of some verbs with regular past participle in the table below:

   Subject Pronoun	-are verbs	-ere verbs	-ire verbs
   	io	avrei aspettato	avrei venduto	sarei partito/a
   tu	avresti aspettato	avresti venduto	saresti partito/a
   lui/lei/Lei	avrebbe aspettato	avrebbe venduto	sarebbe partito/a
   noi	avremmo aspettato	avremmo venduto	saremmo partiti/e
   voi	avreste aspettato	avreste venduto	sareste partiti/e
   loro	avrebbero aspettato	avrebbero venduto	sarei partiti/e

   As with all compound tenses in Italian, you need to know which auxiliary (essere vs. avere) to use and how to form the agreement between the subject and the past particle. To refresh your memory on these rules, read our post on essere vs. avere in Italian compound tenses, since the past conditional follows the same rules.

The Italian past conditional is used in hypothetical sentences, to talk about unfulfilled actions in the past, to express unrealized desires or wishes, to talk about the future of the past, and to report unconfirmed information. Let’s break down each of these uses.

• Unrealized or impossible hypothesis in the past

  The past conditional is used to form hypotheses about unrealized or impossible hypotheses – in other words, about what would have happened if something else had taken place.

  These types of sentences are called type 3 hypothetical sentences in Italian. Like in English if-then sentences, Italian hypotheticals contain two clauses: an “if clause” and a consequence (“then”) clause.

  "If" clause
  se (meaning if)+ past perfect subjunctive

  

  Main Clause
  past conditional

  Se avessimo comprato i biglietti, ieri saremmo andati al concerto.

  Translation: If we had bought the tickets​​, yesterday we would have gone to the concert.

  Note that since the condition was not met/realized in the past (they did not buy the tickets), the consequence (going to the concert yesterday) could not be realized. The past conditional expresses the impossibility of that outcome in the past.

  If the outcome would have taken place in the present or future, you’ll use the Italian present conditional instead!

  Check out our post on the Italian past perfect subjunctive if you need a little refresher on this tense!

• Unfulfilled actions and plans in the past

  Since the past conditional is used to talk about actions that did not, or cannot happen, in Italian, you can also use it in phrases that express a condition introduced by other conditional conjunctions or adversative conjunctions as well.

  The most common adversative conjunctions are ma and però, both meaning "but."

  Sarei andata a Roma ieri, ma c’era uno sciopero dei treni.

  Translation: I would have gone to Rome yesterday, but there was a train strike.

• Desires, advice, opinions, or doubt

  The Italian past conditional can also be used to express desires, advice, opinions, and doubt. Let’s take a look at each of these uses!

  • The past conditional can be used to express an unrealized desire / wish in the past.

    Avrei voluto fare un viaggio quest’estate, purtroppo però non ho potuto.

    Translation: I wanted to take a trip this summer, but unfortunately I couldn't.

  • It can be used also to give retroactive advice (perhaps useful next time... 😉).

    Ieri sera avresti potuto fare una passeggiata invece di stare a casa.

    Translation: You could have taken a walk last night instead of staying at home.

  • Use the past conditional to formulate opinions about a fact or event that occurred in the past.

    Secondo me, sarebbe stato meglio andare a Palermo in treno.

    Translation: In my opinion, it would have been better to go to Palermo by train.

  • The past conditional is also used to express doubts/uncertainty about a past event/action.

    Per il compleanno gli ho preso un trenino elettrico, ma forse avrei potuto comprare qualcos’altro.

    Translation: For his birthday I got him an electric train, but maybe I could have bought something else.

• To talk about the future in/of the past

  The past conditional is also used to talk about the future from a past perspective, that is, when the action of the subordinate clause occurred or was supposed to occur after the action expressed in the main clause.

  Mi avevate promesso che non sareste arrivati in ritardo.

  Translation: You promised me you wouldn't be late.

  Literally: lit. You had promised me that you wouldn’t have arrived late.

  Non pensavamo che avremmo trovato così tanto traffico.

  Translation: We didn't think we would find so much traffic.

  Literally: lit. We didn’t think that we would have found so much traffic.

• To report unconfirmed news/information

  Last but not least, the past conditional is the mood and tense of unconfirmed news.

  • Secondo le ultime notizie, i ladri avrebbero lasciato il paese.

    Translation: According to the latest news, the thieves have left the country.
  • Si dice che / Dicono che il primo ministro avrebbe volato con un jet privato.

    Translation: Rumor has it / They say the prime minister has flown in a private jet.
  • Le fonti riportano che gli uccelli migratori sarebbero ritornati nelle grandi città.

    Translation: Sources report that migratory birds would have returned to large cities.
  • Girano voci che Federica avrebbe accettato il nuovo posto di lavoro.

    Translation: There are rumors that Federica would have accepted the new job.

• The conditional is the mood that expresses all conditions of uncertainty and it has a a present and a past tense.

• The Italian past conditional often translates in the English I/you/he/she etc. + “would have + verb”

• The past conditional is a compound tense, that is, it is a combination of two words:

  • the first word of the past conditional is the present conditional of either essere or avere, depending on the verb;

  • the second word is the past participle (regular or irregular) of the verb; remember to review the rules of passato prossimo (meaning perfect tense), because they apply to all compound tenses.

• We use the past conditional:

  • in the main clause of type 3 hypothetical sentences (expressing impossible situations)

  • to express unrealized desires, retroactive advice, or opinions/doubt/uncertainty about a past event or action

  • in indirect questions in which the subordinate clause is posterior to the main clause require the past conditional in the subordinate clause

  • to talk about the future of the past and unconfirmed news/info

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