Breakdown of Avrei voluto incontrare le sue sorellastre.
avere
to have
suo
his/her/Your
incontrare
to meet
volere
to want
Questions & Answers about Avrei voluto incontrare le sue sorellastre.
Why do we use the definite article le before sue sorellastre? Don't family members usually drop the article with possessives?
You are right that singular, unmodified family members drop the article (like sua sorella). However, there are two exceptions at play in this sentence. First, plural family members always keep the article. Second, sorellastra is an altered noun (using the suffix -astra). Altered family members keep the article even in the singular, so 'his stepsister' would be la sua sorellastra.
Why use the past conditional avrei voluto here instead of the present conditional vorrei?
Vorrei incontrare means 'I would like to meet', expressing a current or future desire. Avrei voluto incontrare is the past conditional, translating to 'I would have liked to meet', which expresses a past desire that was not fulfilled. You form it by using the present conditional of the auxiliary verb (avere) plus the past participle of the main verb (voluto).
When using a modal verb like volere in a compound tense, how do we know whether to use avere or essere as the auxiliary?
In Italian, a modal verb followed by an infinitive generally borrows the auxiliary verb that the infinitive requires. Since incontrare takes avere (as in ho incontrato), the modal phrase also takes avere, making it avrei voluto incontrare.