How to say “Should” in Italian

“Should” is translated into Italian with the present conditional of the verb dovere.

This is the conjugation of “should” in Italian.

• io dovrei  – I should
• tu dovresti – you should
• lui dovrebbe – he should
• lei dovrebbe – she should
• noi dovremmo – we should
• voi dovreste – you should
• loro dovrebbero – they should 

Just like in English, “should” always triggers the use of the infinitive tense (the unconjugated verb).  In other words, the various forms of dovrei are always followed by an infinitive, in Italian.

For example:

• dovrei mangiare – I should eat 
• dovresti guidare – you should drive
• dovrebbe pagare – she should pay
• dovremmo correre – we should run
• dovreste cucinare – you should cook
• dovrebbero parlare – they should speak 

To make the negative form of “should”, should not/shouldn’t, it’s sufficient to place a “non” before the different forms of dovrei. 

• io non dovrei  – I shouldn’t
• tu non dovresti – you shouldn’t
• lui non dovrebbe – he shouldn’t
• lei non dovrebbe – she shouldn’t
• noi non dovremmo – we shouldn’t
• voi non dovreste – you shouldn’t
• loro non dovrebbero – they shouldn’t

This form of the conditional is used especially to give a piece of advice or a recommendation to someone.

• dovresti studiare di più – you should study more
• non dovresti fumare così tanto – you shound’t smoke so much

How to say “should have done”

To say that you should have done something in Italian, you need to use the past conditional of the verb dovere, which is:

• avrei dovuto + infinitive 
• sarei dovuto/a + infinitive

This is a compound form, and so the choice of the correct auxiliary (essere vs. avere) depends on the nature of the verb that follows “dovuto.”

If the verb following is an intransitive verb, we’ll use the auxiliary essere and make sure that the participle dovuto agrees with the gender and number of the subject:

for example: 

• sarei dovuto andare – I should have gone (m)
• sarei dovuta andare – I should have gone (f.)
• saremmo dovuti andare – We should have gone  (m.pl.)
• saremmo dovute andare – We should have gone (f. pl) 

If the verbs that follows “dovuto” is a transitive verb, and so, to be conjugated with the avere auxiliary, the participle dovuto stays the same.

For example 

• avrei dovuto fare – I should have done 
• avremmo dovuto fare – we should have done

More examples using should or should have in Italian:

1. Dovrei giocare a tennis – I should play tennis 
2. Dovremmo iniziare un nuovo blog – we should start a new blog 
3. Dovresti allenarmi più spesso- you should exercise more often  
4. Non dovrebbe andare a lavoro perché è malata – she shouldn’t go to work she is sick 
5. Non dovremmo spendere così tanti soldi – we shouldn’t spend so much money 
6. Dovreste investire soldi in quest’azienda – you should invest money in this company 

The same sentences in the past

1. Avrei dovuto giocare a tennis – I should have played tennis 
2. Avremmo dovuto iniziare un nuovo blog – we should have started a new blog 
3. Avresti dovuto allenarti più spesso- you should have exercised more often 
4. Non sarebbe dovuta andare a lavoro perché è malata – she shouldn’t have gone to work she is sick 
5. Non avremmo dovuto spendere così tanti soldi – we shouldn’t have spent so much money 
6. Avreste dovuto investire soldi in quest’azienda – you should have invested money in this company