colpirebbero

Colpirebbero is the third-person plural form of the present conditional tense of the Italian verb colpire, meaning to strike or to hit. It expresses a hypothetical action that would occur under a specific condition and is used to describe potential outcomes, to soften statements, or to frame polite or cautious assertions in conditional clauses.

Morphology and usage notes: In Italian, the present conditional is used to talk about what would happen if a condition were fulfilled, or to hedge statements in a polite way. Colpirebbero specifically corresponds to “they would strike/hit.” The verb colpire is conjugated in the present conditional as: io colpirei, tu colpiresti, lui/lei colpirebbe, noi colpiremmo, voi colpireste, loro colpirebbero.

Examples:

- Colpirebbero i bersagli se la mira fosse accurata. They would hit the targets if the aim were accurate.

- Se non intervenissero, colpirebbero all’improvviso. If they did not intervene, they would strike suddenly.

Context: Colpirebbero is typically used in literary, journalistic, or everyday Italian to discuss hypothetical actions by subjects capable of striking or hitting something, often in relation to a condition stated in the preceding clause. It is not a standalone verb form with separate meaning beyond its role as a conditional conjugation of colpire.

See also: colpire, Italian conditional mood, subordinate clauses with se and the imperfect subjunctive.