Conditional and if-sentences

The conditional says what would happen. In Albanian it is not a mood of its own: it is built exactly like the future, with do të, but the verb after it is in the imperfect instead of the present subjunctive. This page also covers the other half of the picture, the if-clauses (hypotheses) that usually go with it.

How it is formed

Conditional: do të + the imperfect. Perfect conditional: do të + the imperfect of kam (or jam for Class 6) + the participle.

Because the conditional is built on the imperfect, every class follows its imperfect pattern: the stem comes from the ju form, so dal gives do të dilja, flas gives do të flisja, dua gives do të doja.

What it means

• do të shkoja "I would go".
• do të flinin "they would sleep".
• do të kisha shkuar "I would have gone".
• do të ishim larë "we would have washed ourselves".

If-sentences

A sentence with "if" has two parts: the antecedent (the "if" clause) and the consequent (what follows). The verb forms depend on how real the speaker thinks the hypothesis is. The conjunctions are po, nëse, në (short for nëse) and nëqoftëse "in case"; sikur is used for the unreal ones.

1. A plain, real condition

If the speaker states the condition without any doubt, both clauses are in the indicative, in whatever tense the sense requires. The conjunction can even be missing.

• Nëse ka kohë, ai vjen. "If he has time, he comes."
• Nëqoftëse ka kohë, ai vjen. "In case he has time, he comes."
• Ka kohë, vjen. "He has time, he comes."
• Po erdhi dje, atëherë ai është këtu. "If he came yesterday, then he is here."

When the antecedent is in the simple past, the conjunction must be po, not në.

2. A possible condition, still open

If the speaker recognises other possibilities but still treats the condition as straightforward, the antecedent is in the present subjunctive after po, and the consequent is in the future or the present. If the antecedent must be over before the consequent, it uses the perfect subjunctive:

• Po të vijë ai, do të shkoj unë. "If he comes, I will go."
• Po të punojë, do të ketë bukë. "If he works, he will have bread."
• Po të ketë ardhur, do të jetë në shtëpi. "If he has come, he will be at home."
• Ndryshe, do të shkoj unë. "Otherwise, I will go." (the "if" clause is understood)

After në the optative of kam and jam is also used, and qoftë ("may it be") has become so common that nëqoftëse is one of the two most common ways of saying "if" (the other is po të):

• Në paça kohë, do të vij nesër. "If I have time, I will come tomorrow."

3. Unlikely, or contrary to the present

If the speaker thinks the condition is improbable or not true now, the antecedent uses the imperfect subjunctive (të + imperfect), after po or sikur, and the consequent uses the conditional:

• Po të kisha kohë, do të vija. "If I had time, I would come."
• Po të isha në shtëpi, do të punoja. "If I were at home, I would work."

4. Contrary to the past

For something that did not happen in the past, the antecedent uses the past perfect subjunctive (të + kisha + participle) and the consequent uses the perfect conditional:

• Po të kisha ditur, do të kisha ardhur. "If I had known, I would have come."

The four patterns at a glance

"Even if"

The conjunctions edhe sikur, edhe në and edhe pse introduce a concession and take the same verb forms as the plain "if": Edhe sikur të kisha kohë, nuk do të vija. "Even if I had time, I would not come."

Could, should, might

In the main clause of kinds 3 and 4, English "could" and "should" are expressed with mund and duhet in the imperfect or perfect rather than with do; see Modals and verb phrases.

Watch out: do not put do in the if-clause. The conditional goes in the main clause only; the "if" clause takes the subjunctive or the indicative.

See also

• Future: the same do të, with the present subjunctive.
• Future perfect and future in the past: another use of do të + imperfect, in reported speech.
• Past subjunctives: the forms in the if-clause.