Understanding the Italian Conditional Perfect Tense

The conditional perfect (condizionale passato), like all compound tenses in Italian, is formed with the condizionale presente of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle of the acting verb. Conjugated forms of avere and essere appear in the table below. Here are a few examples of the condizionale passato in action. Remember that verbs conjugated with essere must change their endings to agree in number and gender with the subject: Avremmo potuto ballare tutta la notte. (We could have danced all night.)Avreste dovuto invitarlo. (You ought to have invited him.)Saremmo andati volentieri alla Scala, ma non abbiamo potuto. (We would gladly have gone to La Scala, but we werent able to.)Mirella sarebbe andata volentieri al cinema. (Mirella would have been happy to go to the cinema.) Understanding Auxiliary Verbs Since the conditional perfect is formed with the condizionale presente of the auxiliary verb avere or essere its necessary to understand the usage of these verbs. In Italian, an auxiliary verb—either avere or essere—is used whenever forming compound tenses. The auxiliary (or helping) verb, in combination with another, gives a particular meaning to the conjugated verb form. For example, compound tenses such as the passato prossimo are formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle (participio passato). When forming the passato prossimo, which auxiliary verb should be used—avere or essere? How do you decide? Transitive Verbs Take Avere Avere: 1 to have (got): Ho molti amici. I have many friends; 2 to have, to own: Ha una villa in campagna. He has a house in the country; 3 to have on, to wear: Maria ha un vestito nuovo. Maria has on a new dress. Like the verb essere (to be), avere is used in myriad grammatical and linguistic situations. Learning the many conjugations and uses of the verb is crucial to the study of the Italian language. Transitive verbs are those that take a direct object. For instance: Io ho mangiato una pera. (I ate a pear.)Loro hanno già   studiato la lezione. (They already studied the lesson.)Non ho mai visto Genova. (Ive never visited Genoa.) The compound tense of a transitive verb is formed with the present indicative of the auxiliary verb avere and the past participle (participio passato). The past participle is invariable and ends in -ato, -uto, or -ito. In phrases with a transitive verb, the direct object of the verb may be expressed explicitly or implied. For example: Io ho mangiato tardi. (I ate late.) Intransitive Verbs Take Essere Essere: 1 to be: La bambina à ¨ piccola The child is small; Chi à ¨? - Sono io Who is it? - Its me; Siamo noi its us 2 to be: Che ore sono? - Sono le quattro What time is it? It is four oclock. Essere is an irregular verb (un verbo irregolare); it does not follow a predictable pattern of conjugation. Note that the form sono is used with both io and loro. Grammatical NotesEssere is used with di name of a city to indicate city of origin (the city someone is from). To indicate country of origin, an adjective of nationality is generally used: He is from France He is French È francese. Simply put, intransitive verbs are those that do not take a direct object. These verbs usually express movement or a state of being. The auxiliary verb essere plus the past participle is used to form the passato prossimo and other compounds of almost all intransitive verbs (and the past participle must agree in number and gender with the subject.) The table below contains conjugations of arrivare, crescere, and partire in the passato prossimo. Condizionale Presente of the Auxiliary Verb Avere or Essere PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL I (io) avrei, sarei (noi) avremmo, saremmo II (tu) avresti, saresti (voi) avreste, sareste III (lui, lei, Lei) avrebbe, sarebbe (loro, Loro) avrebbero, sarebbero