The Conditional Tense: What Would You Do?

The conditional tense in Spanish is used to talk about hypothetical situations, possibilities, and to make polite requests. It's the equivalent of 'would' + verb in English.

Forming the Regular Conditional

This is one of the easiest tenses to form! For regular verbs, you just take the full infinitive (like hablar, comer, or vivir) and add the conditional endings. The endings are the same for all verb types (-ar, -er, and -ir).

Here are the endings:

• yo: -ía
• tú: -ías
• él/ella/usted: -ía
• nosotros/nosotras: -íamos
• vosotros/vosotras: -íais
• ellos/ellas/ustedes: -ían

Examples:

• hablar (to speak) -> yo hablaría (I would speak)
• comer (to eat) -> tú comerías (you would eat)
• vivir (to live) -> él viviría (he would live)

Main Uses

1. Hypothetical Situations: To talk about what would happen under certain conditions.

   • Si tuviera más tiempo, viajaría por Asia. (If I had more time, I would travel through Asia.)

2. Giving Advice: Often used with phrases like 'If I were you...'

   • Yo en tu lugar, hablaría con el profesor. (If I were in your place, I would talk to the professor.)

3. Polite Requests: To soften a request and make it more polite.

   • ¿Podrías pasarme la sal, por favor? (Could you pass me the salt, please?)

A Note on Irregulars

Some common verbs like hacer (to do/make), decir (to say), and tener (to have) are irregular in the conditional. They have a different stem, but they use the same endings listed above (e.g., hacer -> haría, tener -> tendría). You'll encounter these while reading, but this drill will focus only on the regular verbs to help you master the main pattern first!