The Past Conditional Tense

(or How to Say “Would Have, Could Have, Should Have”)

Say hello to the tense that will make you stop + think about how to say it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

For example, “I WOULD HAVE TOLD Marco why I didn’t go to the party, but I couldn’t figure out how to say it in Italian. The past conditional tense is too challenging.”

OR, “I WOULD HAVE LIKED to tell her my stories from my trip to Rome, but I WOULD HAVE HAD TO STOP for thirty seconds to think between each sentence because of the conditional past tense.”

Oooookay, I’ll admit that I’m being a little dramatic.

The past conditional tense is not that challenging, but it does, just like all the other tenses, take some practice to get used to.

It just requires a few more moving parts that you have to encourage your brain to accommodate.

Before I walk you through how to use the past conditional tense in Italian, let’s first chat about when you need to use it because it can differ slightly from English.

When to Use the Past Conditional:

• Advice/Opinion: You SHOULD HAVE STUDIED Italian every day. – AVRESTI DOVUTO STUDIARE l’italiano ogni giorno.

• Doubt: I didn’t know if he WOULD HAVE WANTED TO LEARN Italian. – Non sapevo se lui AVREBBE VOLUTO IMPARARE l’italiano.

• Guess/Assumption (typically something that hasn’t been confirmed yet): According to the news, four of the Gucci models HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED right from the runway! Who COULD HAVE KIDNAPPED THEM? - Secondo le notizie, quattro dei modelli di Gucci sarebbero stati rapiti proprio dalla passerella! Chi AVREBBE POTUTO RAPIRLE?! 

• A regret: I SHOULD NOT HAVE COME. – Non SAREI DOVUTO VENIRE.

• Desire: I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO VISIT Orvieto, but there was a train strike. – AVREI VOLUTO VISITARE Orvieto, però c’era uno sciopero dei treni.

• A past action that couldn’t be completed:  I WOULD HAVE called you, but I didn’t have your telephone number. - Ti AVREI CHIAMATO, ma non avevo il tuo numero di telefono.

But wait, there’s one more super special one. You can also use the conditional perfect to talk about a future action that was talked about in the past. I know, sounds weird.

Stay with me here.