Past conditional: aș fi vrut

The past conditional talks about things that did not happen (I would have…). Build it with the conditional auxiliary + fi + the past participle:

• aș fi venit, ai fi venit, ar fi venit, am fi venit, ați fi venit, ar fi venit

Only the auxiliary changes; fi and the participle stay the same. Use it in unreal if-clauses about the past, in both clauses: Dacă aș fi știut, aș fi venit. (If I had known, I would have come.) It also expresses regret and reproach: Ar fi trebuit să plec mai devreme. (I should have left earlier.) Ai fi putut să mă suni. (You could have called me.) Ar fi trebuit never changes for person. A past-time word (ieri, anul trecut) or a past fact (dar a plouat) shows that the present conditional (aș veni) does not fit.