Table of Contents

• What Exactly is the Spanish Conditional Tense?
• How to Form the Conditional Tense (It's Easier Than You Think!)
  • The Regular Conditional Endings
  • The Irregulars (The Usual Suspects)
• When to Use the Spanish Conditional: The 4 Main Scenarios
  • 1. To Talk About Hypothetical Situations
  • 2. To Give Advice or Suggestions
  • 3. To Make Polite Requests
  • 4. To Express Wonder or Probability in the Past
• Common Mistakes to Avoid
  • 1. Confusing Conditional (`would do`) with Imperfect (`used to do`)
  • 2. Using the Conditional in the "if" Clause
• Let's Practice!
• You're Ready to Dream in Spanish!

Spanish Conditional Tense: The Ultimate Guide to 'Would'

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? If you won the lottery, what's the first thing you would buy?

Thinking about these questions in English is easy. We just pop the word "would" in front of a verb. But how do we talk about these dreamy possibilities, hypothetical scenarios, and polite requests in Spanish?

Say hello to your new best friend: the Conditional Tense (or el condicional).

Exploring the world of 'what ifs' and 'I woulds'

This tense is your key to unlocking a new level of expressive, nuanced Spanish. It lets you talk about what you would do, what could be, or what you'd like to happen. And the best part? It's one of the easiest tenses to conjugate.

Ready to dive in? Let's explore the world of "what ifs" and "I woulds."

What Exactly is the Spanish Conditional Tense?

The conditional tense in Spanish is used to talk about actions that are not certain to happen. They depend on a certain condition (hence the name!). It's the equivalent of using "would," "could," or "should" in English.

Take a look:

• I would travel more. -> Yo viajaríaI would travel más.
• He would buy a new car. -> Él compraríahe would buy un coche nuevo.
• We would love to see you. -> Nos encantaríawe would love verte.

See that pattern? The conditional helps us express desires, possibilities, and hypotheticals.

How to Form the Conditional Tense (It's Easier Than You Think!)

Get ready for some good news. Forming the conditional is incredibly simple for regular verbs. There's just one set of endings, and they're the same for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.

Here’s the magic formula: Infinitive + Conditional Ending

That's it! You don't remove the -ar, -er, or -ir. You just tack the ending right onto the full verb.

The Regular Conditional Endings

Here are the endings you'll add to the infinitive of any regular verb:

Pronoun	Ending	Example: hablar (to speak)	Example: comer (to eat)	Example: vivir (to live)
yo	-ía	hablaría	comería	viviría
tú	-ías	hablarías	comerías	vivirías
él/ella/Ud.	-ía	hablaría	comería	viviría
nosotros/as	-íamos	hablaríamos	comeríamos	viviríamos
vosotros/as	-íais	hablaríais	comeríais	viviríais
ellos/ellas/Uds.	-ían	hablarían	comerían	vivirían

Notice how the yo and él/ella/usted forms are identical. Context will always tell you who is being talked about.

The Irregulars (The Usual Suspects)

Of course, Spanish loves to keep us on our toes with a few irregular verbs. But here's another piece of good news: if you already know the irregular verbs in the future tense, you already know them for the conditional! They use the exact same irregular stems.

The endings remain the same (-ía, -ías, -ía...), but the beginning of the verb (the stem) changes.

These irregulars fall into a few predictable patterns.

1. Verbs that drop the infinitive vowel (-e- or -i-)

Infinitive	Irregular Stem	Conditional (yo)
poder (to be able to)	podr-	podríaI could
querer (to want)	querr-	querríaI would want
saber (to know)	sabr-	sabríaI would know
haber (to have)	habr-	habríathere would be
caber (to fit)	cabr-	cabríait would fit

2. Verbs that add a d

Infinitive	Irregular Stem	Conditional (yo)
poner (to put)	pondr-	pondríaI would put
salir (to leave)	saldr-	saldríaI would leave
tener (to have)	tendr-	tendríaI would have
valer (to be worth)	valdr-	valdríait would be worth
venir (to come)	vendr-	vendríaI would come

3. The truly unique ones

Infinitive	Irregular Stem	Conditional (yo)
decir (to say)	dir-	diríaI would say
hacer (to do/make)	har-	haríaI would do

When to Use the Spanish Conditional: The 4 Main Scenarios

Using the conditional tense to make polite requests and give soft advice.

Now that you know how to form the conditional, let's get to the fun part: when to use it.

1. To Talk About Hypothetical Situations

This is the classic use of the conditional. You're talking about what you would do if a certain condition were met. These are your "If..., then..." sentences.

• Si tuviera más tiempo, leería más libros. (If I had more time, I would read more books.)
• Si ganara la lotería, compraría una casa en la playa. (If I won the lottery, I would buy a house on the beach.)
• ¿Qué harías con un millón de dólares? (What would you do with a million dollars?)

2. To Give Advice or Suggestions

Want to give someone advice without sounding too bossy? The conditional is perfect. It's a softer, more polite way to offer your opinion.

• Yo que tú, hablaría con el profesor. (If I were you, I would speak with the professor.)
• Deberías tomar un descanso. Te ves cansado. (You should take a break. You look tired.)
• Para ese dolor de cabeza, yo tomaría una aspirina. (For that headache, I would take an aspirin.)

3. To Make Polite Requests

Using the conditional to ask for things makes you sound much more courteous. It’s the difference between "Can you...?" and "Could you...?"

The verbs poder (to be able), gustar (to like), and encantar (to love) are very common here.

• ¿Podrías pasarme la sal, por favor? (Could you pass me the salt, please?)
• Me gustaría un café con leche. (I would like a coffee with milk.)
• ¿Te importaría cerrar la ventana? (Would you mind closing the window?)

This is incredibly useful in restaurants, shops, and everyday interactions.

4. To Express Wonder or Probability in the Past

This use can be a little tricky, but it's very common. You can use the conditional to make a guess or express wonder about something that happened in the past. It's like saying "I wonder..." or "It must have been..."

• A: ¿Por qué no vino Juan a la fiesta? (Why didn't Juan come to the party?) B: No sé, estaría enfermo. (I don't know, he was probably sick / I wonder if he was sick.)
• ¿Cuántos años tendría ella cuando se casó? (I wonder how old she was when she got married?)
• Serían las diez de la noche cuando por fin llegaron. (It must have been ten at night when they finally arrived.)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The conditional is straightforward, but there are a couple of common traps for English speakers.

1. Confusing Conditional (would do) with Imperfect (used to do)

The endings -ía look very similar, which can cause confusion. Remember the difference in meaning:

• Conditional: Hypothetical (would do). Yo viajaría. (I would travel.)
• Imperfect: Past habit or description (used to do / was doing). Yo viajaba. (I used to travel / I was traveling.)

2. Using the Conditional in the "if" Clause

This is a direct translation error from English. In a hypothetical "if... then..." sentence, the conditional goes in the "then" part, never the "if" part.

• Incorrect: Si yo tendría tiempo...
• Correct: Si yo tuviera tiempo, yo iría al cine. (If I had time, I would go to the movies.)

Just remember: No conditional after si!

Let's Practice!

Time to put your knowledge to the test.

Try filling in the blank with the correct conditional form of the verb in parentheses.

1. Yo en tu lugar, ______ (comprar) el vestido rojo. -> compraría
2. Si pudiéramos, nosotros ______ (viajar) a Japón. -> viajaríamos
3. ¿Tú qué ______ (hacer) en mi situación? -> harías
4. Él dijo que ______ (venir) a la fiesta. -> vendría

You're Ready to Dream in Spanish!

The conditional tense unlocks a new level of expressive Spanish.

Congratulations! You've just unlocked the Spanish conditional tense.

You now have the power to:

• Talk about hypothetical situations and dreams.
• Form the conjugations for regular and irregular verbs.
• Give polite advice and make courteous requests.
• Avoid common mistakes like mixing it up with the imperfect.

The conditional tense will make your Spanish sound more natural, polite, and sophisticated. So go ahead—what would you do with your new grammar superpower?