Le frasi ipotetiche
Hypothetical structures
There are three main hypothetical structures in Italian (as well as in English), to express different degrees of hypothetical thought. Notice that these structures are composed of two parts.
1. To convey the idea that something is likely to happen in the future (ipotesi di probabilità):
se + future / future
Se andrò a Palermo, visiterò il Palazzo dei Normanni.
= If I go to Palermo, I will visit the Norman Palace.
Italians sometimes may use the present tense in this context, and they will definitely use the present tense to convey the idea that something happens regularly, as in Se mangio di corsa mi viene il mal di pancia.
2. To convey the idea that something is possible but not too likely to happen in the future (ipotesi di possibilità):
se + imperfect subjunctive / present conditional
Se andassi a Palermo, visiterei il Palazzo dei Normanni.
= If I went to Palermo, I would visit the Norman Palace.
3. To convey the idea that something is impossible because one cannot change the past (ipotesi di impossibilità):
se + past perfect subjunctive / past conditional
Se fossi andato a Palermo, avrei visitato il Palazzo dei Normanni.
= If I had gone to Palermo, I would have visited the Norman Palace.
There is a much more colloquial way to express this impossible hypothetical concept:
se + imperfect / imperfect
Se andavo a Palermo, visitavo il Palazzo dei Normanni.
= If I had gone to Palermo, I would have visited the Norman Palace.
Lastly, what happened in the past might have consequences in the present. Here is how to convey this concept:
Se fossi andato a Palermo, ora conoscerei meglio la Sicilia.
= If I had gone to Palermo, now I would know Sicily better.
Idiomatic expressions with dispiacere
Italians use these expressions a lot to mean to mind. If there is only one subject in the sentence use these structures:
| Ti dispiace chiudere la finestra? | Do you mind closing the window? |
| Ti dispiacerebbe chiudere la finestra? | Would you mind closing the window? |
If there are two subjects in the sentence use these structures:
| Ti dispiace se chiudo la finestra? | Do you mind if I close the window? |
| Ti dispiacerebbe se chiudessi la finestra? | Would you mind if I closed the window? |
