Italian, Conditional Tenses , To Drive, Use of the Infinitive, Subjunctive Mood

Conditional Tenses

The conditional tense expresses "would" and is used with requests and doubts. It is also used in hypothetical situations with "if" clauses or with events or actions that may occur in the future, but probably won't.

To form the present conditional, use the future stem and these endings for the three types of verbs. (The verbs that have irregular future forms are also irregular in the conditional tense.)

-ei
-esti
-ebbe

-emmo
-este
-ebbero

Gli parlerei, ma non è a casa. I would talk to him, but he's not at home.
Prendereste un caffè? Would you like some coffee?
Sarei più contenta. I would be happier.

As in the future tense, verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h after the c or g for pronunciation. Verbs endings in -ciare and -giare drop the final i in all forms of the present conditional.

Dovere, potere, and volere all have irregular forms in the present conditional:

dovere			potere			volere
dovrei dovresti dovrebbe	dovremmo dovreste dovrebbero		potrei potresti potrebbe	potremmo potreste potrebbero		vorrei vorresti vorrebbe	vorremmo vorreste vorrebbero

The past conditional expresses the same basic idea as the present conditional. It is used to express unfulfilled requests, situations that did not occur, or events which had the possibility to fulfill themselves, but didn't. It is formed by using the present conditional of avere or essere and the past participle of the main verb. One difference between English and Italian usage of the past conditional is that when expressing a future action from the viewpoint of the past, Italian uses the past conditional whereas English uses the present conditional.

Ha detto che sarebbe venuto. He said that he would come.

To Drive

condurre - to drive
conduco conduci conduce	conduciamo conducete condúcono

Use of the Infinitive

The infinitive can be used after certain prepositions, such as per, prima di and senza; whereas in English, the gerund form is usually used.

Siamo pronto per uscire. We are ready to go out.
Prima di partire. Before leaving.
Senza dire niente. Without saying anything.

The past infinitive may be used after senza and dopo. It is formed with the auxiliaries essere or avere and the past participle of the verb. The final -e of the auxiliary verb is commonly dropped.

Sono venuti senza aver telefonato. They came without having telephoned.
È ritornata dopo aver comprato i biglietti. She returned after having bought the tickets.

The infinitive may also function as a noun. In this case, the English translation is also the gerund form.

Viaggiare stanca. Travelling is tiring.

Letting, seeing or hearing someone do something is expressed by the forms of lasciare, vedere and sentire plus the infinitive.

Ho sentito cantare Teresa. I heard Teresa sing.
Ho veduto dormire i bambini. I saw the children sleep.

Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions, etc. and is used much more frequently in Italian. It is mainly used in dependent clauses (sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not have a complete meaning) that are introduced by che.

The present subjunctive of regular verbs is formed by dropping the normal endings, and adding these new endings:

-are		-ere		1st -ire		2nd -ire
-i -i -i	-iamo -iate -ino	-a -a -a	-iamo -iate -ano	-a -a -a	-iamo -iate -ano	-isca -isca -isca	-iamo -iate -iscano

Verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h before all endings of the present subjunctive. Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare drop the i from their stems.

Many common verbs have irregular present subjunctive forms:

avere			essere			andare			bere			dare			dire
abbia abbia abbia	abbiamo abbiate abbiano		sia sia sia	siamo siate siano		vada vada vada	andiamo andiate vadano		beva beva beva	beviamo beviate bevano		dia dia dia	diamo diate diano		dica dica dica	diciamo diciate dicano

dovere		fare		potere		sapere
debba debba debba	dobbiamo dobbiate debbano	faccia faccia faccia	facciamo facciate facciano	possa possa possa	possiamo possiate possano	sappia sappia sappia	sappiamo sappiate sappiano

stare		uscire		venire		volere
stia stia stia	stiamo stiate stiano	esca esca esca	usciamo usciate escano	venga venga venga	veniamo veniate vengano	voglia voglia voglia	vogliamo vogliate vogliano

The present perfect subjunctive is formed with the present subjunctive of avere or essere and the past participle of the main verb.