Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

When we want to talk about something that *would have* happened but didn't, we use the past conditional (**condizionale passato**). It is perfect for discussing missed opportunities, unfulfilled desires, and regrets—especially when recounting travel mishaps!

### Forming the Past Conditional

Form the past conditional using the present conditional of the auxiliary verb (**avere** or **essere**) and the past participle of the main verb.

| Pronoun | Avere | Essere |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrei | sarei |
| tu | avresti | saresti |
| lui/lei | avrebbe | sarebbe |
| noi | avremmo | saremmo |
| voi | avreste | sareste |
| loro | avrebbero | sarebbero |

### Using "Avere"

Most verbs use **avere**. We often pair the past conditional with *ma* (but) to explain exactly why the action didn't happen.

{{item:816707}}

{{item:816709}}

It is also frequently paired with **altrimenti** (otherwise) to express what the consequence *would have* been if you hadn't acted differently.

{{item:816711}}

### Using "Essere"

Verbs of motion, changes of state, and all reflexive verbs take **essere** as their auxiliary. Just like with the *passato prossimo*, when you use **essere**, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.

{{item:816718}}

{{item:816721}}

Standard verbs of motion follow the exact same rules for **essere** and agreement.

{{item:816724}}

### Expressing Regrets

Ultimately, whether using *avere* or *essere*, the past conditional is the go-to tense for expressing a **rimpianto** (regret) about a missed opportunity.

{{item:816729}}

The past conditional (avrei fatto, sarei andato)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
the agency (f)	l'agenzia
The tourist agency would have organized the trip for us.	L'agenzia turistica avrebbe organizzato il viaggio per noi.
the connection (transportation)	la coincidenza
I would have caught the connection, but the plane arrived late.	Avrei preso la coincidenza, ma l'aereo è arrivato in ritardo.
otherwise	altrimenti
We left immediately, otherwise we would have missed the connection.	Siamo partiti subito, altrimenti avremmo perso la coincidenza.
the ferry	il traghetto
I would not have taken the ferry, otherwise I would have arrived late.	Non avrei preso il traghetto, altrimenti sarei arrivato tardi.
the itinerary (m)	l'itinerario
We would have changed the itinerary to take the ferry.	Avremmo cambiato l'itinerario per prendere il traghetto.
the guide	la guida
The guide would have explained the itinerary to us.	La guida ci avrebbe spiegato l'itinerario.
to enjoy	godersi
With a good guide, we would have enjoyed the trip.	Con una brava guida, ci saremmo goduti il viaggio.
the sunset	il tramonto
I would have enjoyed the sunset on the beach.	Mi sarei goduto il tramonto in spiaggia.
to notify	avvisare
I would have notified you immediately, but I didn't find your number.	Ti avrei avvisato subito, ma non ho trovato il tuo numero.
I would have gladly gone to France!	Sarei andato volentieri in Francia!
I would have taken neither the bus nor the ferry.	Non avrei preso né l'autobus né il traghetto.
The agency would have helped me, but it was closed.	L'agenzia mi avrebbe aiutato, ma era chiusa.
I would have invited you, but you already had an appointment.	Ti avrei invitato, ma avevi già un appuntamento.
the regret	il rimpianto
I would have warned you about the delay, it is my regret.	Ti avrei avvisato del ritardo, è il mio rimpianto.
We would have stayed for the sunset, it is our regret.	Saremmo rimasti per il tramonto, è il nostro rimpianto.

Contributors