Present Conditional

In brief

The Italian present conditional (condizionale presente) expresses what someone would do, offers gentle advice, or makes a request more polite. English often uses “would” or “could” for the same ideas. Although it is called “present,” it can refer to a possible future action; it does not describe a completed past action.

Form

Use the future-tense stem plus -ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero. For -are verbs, change a to e: parlare → parlerei. For -ere and -ire verbs: prendere → prenderei; dormire → dormirei. Common irregular stems include vorr- (vorrei), potr- (potrei), and dovr- (dovrei).

Usage

• Make polite requests with vorrei (“I would like”) or potresti (“could you”).
• Give gentle advice with dovresti (“you should”).
• Describe what you would do in a possible or imagined situation.

Examples

• Vorrei un caffè, per favore. — I’d like a coffee, please.
• Potresti aiutarmi con questa valigia? — Could you help me with this suitcase?
• Al tuo posto, prenderei il treno. — If I were you, I’d take the train.
• Dovresti chiamare Marco stasera. — You should call Marco tonight.

Common mistake

❌ Vorrei a prenotare un tavolo.

✅ Vorrei prenotare un tavolo.

English says “I’d like to book,” but Italian puts the infinitive directly after vorrei, without a.

Remember

The endings stay the same across all three verb groups; watch for changed stems in common irregular verbs.