Italian All-in-One For Dummies (175 page)

Avrei studiato, ma ero stanca.
(
I would've studied, but I was tired.
)

Saremmo andati al cinema, ma non avevamo soldi.
(
We would've gone to the movies, but we didn't have any money.
)

You can use the past conditional tense to ask for or offer an opinion. For example:

Che cosa avresti fatto al posto mio?
(
What would you have done in my place?
)

The past conditional appears with verbs and expressions of knowing, believing, and saying, such as
sapere
(
to know
),
capire
(
to understand
),
dire
(
to say; to tell
),
promettere
(
to promise
), and
scrivere
(
to write
), to name a few. These uses of the past conditional translate into the present conditional in English. Here are some examples:

Era chiaro che non sarebbero andati d'accordo.
(
It was clear that they wouldn't get along.
)

Hai detto che avresti studiato!
(
You said that you would study!
)

Ho detto che avrei chiamato, e invece non ho chiamato.
(
I said that I would call, and instead I didn't call.
)

Expressing Responsibilities, Desires, and Abilities in the Past Conditional

You often use the verbs
dovere
(
to have to
),
volere
(
to want to
), and
potere
(
to be able to
) in the past conditional tense to express the following, respectively:

I (you/he/we/they) should've . . .

I would've liked to . . .

I could've . . .

You can also express negative connotations such as
non avrei/sarei dovuto . . .
(
I shouldn't have . . .
) and
non avrei/sarei potuto . . . ?
(
Couldn't I have . . . ?
).

To use
dovere, volere,
and
potere
in the past conditional, you first decide whether you should use the conditional of the auxiliary verb
essere
or
avere,
and then you add the past participle —
dovuto, voluto,
or
potuto
— to the auxiliary verb. Both of these forms precede the action verb in the sentence:

Avrei dovuto prendere
gli spiedini di seppia!
(
I should've gotten the squid kebobs!
)

Sarei dovuta partire
prima.
(
I should've left earlier.
)

Use the
avere
conditional when the infinitive that follows the past participle (
dovuto, voluto,
or
potuto
) generally takes
avere,
and use
essere
when the infinitive that follows the past participle is an intransitive verb (in other words, a verb that takes
essere
). See more on transitive and intransitive verbs in
Chapter 1
in Book V.

Note the following examples of
avere:

Avresti dovuto
provare
di più.
(
You should've tried harder/rehearsed more.
)

Avrei voluto
studiare
sociologia.
(
I would've rather studied sociology.
)

Il babbo avrebbe potuto telefonare.
(
Dad could've called.
)

Note the following examples of
essere:

Saresti dovuto/a
partire
prima!
(
You should've left earlier.
)

Sarei voluto/a
diventare
veterinario/a.
(
I would've liked to become a veterinarian.
)

Il babbo si sarebbe potuto divertire di più
or
Il babbo avrebbe potuto divertirsi di più.
(
Dad could've had more fun.
)

Note that if you prefer attaching the
si
to the infinitive of the verb, you need to use the auxiliary
avere
.

Forming and Implementing the Past Perfect Tense

You form the
trapassato prossimo
(
past perfect
) like the other compound tenses in Italian: You combine the imperfect of
avere
(
to have
) or
essere
(
to be
) with the past participle of the verb in question. A brief recap may suffice: When you have a transitive verb, your auxiliary verb will be
avere;
when you have an intransitive verb or any reflexive verb, your auxiliary verb will be
essere
— and keep in mind that when you have a reflexive verb, you need to add a reflexive pronoun.

Here are some examples of the past perfect in action:

A 6 anni, Daniel non aveva ancora cominciato a nuotare.
(
When he was 6, Daniel hadn't yet begun to swim.
)

A 6 anni, Daniel era già stato in Italia.
(
When he was 6, Daniel had already been to Italy.
)

A 6 anni, Daniel si era già abituato a fare i compiti da solo.
(
When he was 6, Daniel had already gotten used to doing his homework by himself.
)

When forming the past perfect in Italian, you often need to use the adverb
già
(
already
), which should be placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle.

La mamma aveva già preparato tutto quando siamo arrivati.
(
Mom had already prepared everything when we arrived.
)

The adverb
non . . .
ancora
(
not . . .
yet
) works in the same way —
Luisa non aveva ancora capito che doveva studiare
(
Luisa hadn't yet understood that she needed to study
) — as do the adverbs
non . . .
mai
(
never
) —
Non si era mai sposato, Donald
(
Donald hadn't ever gotten married
) — and
appena
(
just
) —
Mi ero
appena
alzata
. . .
(
I had just gotten up . . .
).