Emanuele:	Non so se abbiamo mai discusso di quanto oggigiorno sia difficile nascere in Italia. Nel caso avessi dei dubbi, sto parlando del declino delle nascite.
Benedetta:	Grazie per la precisazione, avevo capito benissimo! In questo momento non ricordo, ma… è un tema così importante?
Emanuele:	Ho letto che negli ultimi anni, in Italia, si è raggiunto il minimo storico delle nascite. Se volessimo individuare la causa principale di questo fenomeno, dove dovremmo puntare lo sguardo, secondo te?
Benedetta:	Fammi pensare… beh, se dovessi cercare un “colpevole”, sicuramente punterei la mia attenzione sulla crisi economica.
Emanuele:	Esatto! Le coppie italiane, infatti, dichiarano di non fare figli perché si sentono scoraggiate da posizioni lavorative che offrono poche garanzie.

In this lesson we will focus on hypothetical constructions that focus on situations unlikely to happen. These syntactic constructions steer away from realistic scenarios, which we explored over the course of last lesson, and focus more on possibility and probability, shedding light on the outcome of a hypothetical yet unlikely condition:

Se Beatrice dormisse le sue 8 ore, non sarebbe così stanca. If Beatrice slept her full 8 hours, she would not be so tired.

In the example above, the speaker is expressing how Beatrice would be less fatigued provided that she gets her full 8 hours of rest. This statement falls under the realm of possibility; Beatrice could potentially be less tired on the condition that she sleeps enough. It is implied that the speaker assumes it unlikely for Beatrice to sleep more (and, therefore, for her to be less tired). Let’s look at another example:

Se Anna e Giacomo studiassero di più, passerebbero l'esame di ammissione senza difficoltà. If Anna and Giacomo studied more, they would pass the admission exam without difficulty.

Again, the example above expresses how Anna and Giacomo would pass the exam on the condition that they put more time into studying. Though the speaker finds it improbable that this will happen (as is expressed by the hypothetical construction) the main clause explains the result (passing the admission exam) of the condition if it were to come to fruition.

To form this type of construction, we need to use the imperfect subjunctive in the se-clause, and the present conditional in the independent clause:

Dependent Clause (Condition)	Independent Clause (Result)
Se + Imperfect Subjunctive	Present Conditional

(For an overview of the imperfect subjunctive conjugations, see the Introduction to the Imperfect Subjunctive lesson; for a review of the conditional mood, refer to The Conditional Mood lesson)

NB: The order of the clauses in the sentence can be switched: the se-clause doesn’t always have to come first! However, it is important to remember that the imperfect subjunctive verb only belongs in the se-clause, while the conditional verb belongs in the independent clause. They never swap places!