Dealing with hypotheses and conditions: the conditional mood or "modo condizionale"

There are two tenses in the conditional mood: present "parlerei" and past "avrei parlato" (respectively, I would speak - I would have spoken)

By itself, it is used for wishes, offers, polite requests and the like. Examples:

"Berresti un caffè con me?" ( Would you drink a cup of coffe with me?)

"Passerei volentieri un weekend a Berlino" ( I would gladly spend a weekend in Berlin)

"Chiuderesti la finestra, per favore?" ( Would you close the window, please?)

"Vorrei e non vorrei" ( I would and would not like) is part of the famous aria "Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The "future in the past"

There are remarkable differences between Eng., that uses the present conditional tense, and It., that uses condizionale passato. For more explanations and examples see the page on future tenses

Conditional sentences

The first type of conditional sentences (e.g. "Se pioverà prenderò l'ombrello" If it rains, I'll take an umbrella) is dealt with in the page on the future tense

The second conditional has the "condizionale presente" in the main clause and the "congiuntivo imperfetto" in the if-clause. Examples:

"Se piovesse, prenderei l'ombrello" ( If it rained, I'd take an umbrella)
"Comprerei una Ferrari se potessi permettermelo" ( I'd buy a Ferrari if I could afford it);
"Barbara sarebbe bellissima se non mangiasse troppo" ( Barbara would be beautiful if she didn't eat too much).

The third conditional has the "condizionale passato" in the main clause and the "congiuntivo piuccheperfetto" in the if-clause. Examples:

"Se fosse piovuto, avrei preso l'ombrello" ( If it had rained, I'd have taken an umbrella)
"Avrei comprato una Ferrari se avessi potuto permettermelo" ( I'd have bought a Ferrari if I had been able to afford it);
"Avrebbe studiato il russo se ne avesse avuto l'occasione ( She would have studied Russian if she had had the opportunity)

In both languages:

a) there are mixed types, combining two different conditionals - for example: "Sarei più felice (now: 2nd cond.) se non avessi incontrato Giovanna ieri sera (in the past: 3rd conditional)" ( I'd be happier if I hadn't met Giovanna last night).

b) conditional sentences of the 3rd type are "counterfactual" - literally: against the facts. Going back to one of the examples, it implies that I didn't buy a Ferrari because I couldn't afford it. Some conditional sentences of the 2nd type are also counterfactual, but not all.