Professor Dave here, let’s use the conditional with modal verbs.
We’ve been learning about the conditional mood, in the form of the present conditional
tense and the past conditional tense, which tell us how to say thinks like I would, and
I would have.
Now it’s time to use the conditional mood with the modal verbs: potere, volere, and dovere.
This will allow us to generate new sentences, and may even clarify some hazy points in English
grammar, if you’ve ever wondered exactly how to use phrases like I could and I should.
First let’s recall the definitions of these infinitives.
Potere describes ability, as in can, or to be able to.
Volere describes will, as in to want.
And dovere describes need, as in must, or to have to, or to be supposed to.
These verbs “serve”, which means they are followed by a second verb, always in the infinitive.
We have already conjugated these in the pesent tense, so now let’s conjugate them in the
present conditional, noting that all three are irregular.
So how exactly are these verbs used in this tense?
Let’s see some examples.
With potere, I can becomes I could.
Volere goes from I want to I would like.
And dovere goes from I must to I should.
These verbs are typically used in this tense to soften the impact of a statement, make
a polite request, or express a personal opinion.
That covers usage of the present conditional tense with modal verbs, so before we move
on to past conditional, let’s check comprehension.