Spanish Conditional Tense – el Condicional (Conjugation and Usage)
Written by tutor Vanessa K.
The conditional is one of the simplest, easiest Spanish verb forms. 🙂 There is only one set
of endings and most verbs – even those which are irregular in the present tense – use their
infinitive as the root of the conjugation.
How do we form the conditional?
To form the conditional of -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs, add the following endings to the infinitive:
Singular | Plural | |
1st person     | yo     -Ăa | nosotros     -Ăamos |
2nd person     | tú     -Ăas | vosotros     -Ăais |
3rd person     | Ă©l ella     -Ăa Ud. |
ellos ellas     -Ăan Uds. |
He would sing – El cantarĂa
I would eat – Yo comerĂa
We would write – Nosotros escribirĂamos
Irregular verbs in the conditional tense:
Some verbs have irregular conditional stems, but they still add the same endings as regular verbs.
Verb     | Conditional stem     | Similar verbs |
poner | pondr- | -d- in place of the –e- or –i-: salir, tener, valer, venir |
haber | habr- | -lose the infinitive vowel –e-: caber, poder, querer, saber |
hacer | har- | |
oĂr | oir- | Lose the accent: reir, sonreir |
decir | dir- |
Usage
We use the conditional tense for actions that are not guaranteed to occur, in hypotheses, or statements about what
would happen, that’s why it is translated as would/could in English.
Uses:
1. Talking about expectations: Past tense + conditional.
Often with common expressions such as pensar que, creer que, prometer que…
Examples: Marta dijo que vendrĂa – Marta said she would come.
Yo pensaba que viajarĂamos hoy – I thought we would travel today.
2. Probability in the past
Examples: SerĂan las diez – It was probably ten o’clock.
El vendrĂa a eso de las 2 de la mañana – He would come at about two in the morning.
3. Polite requests, suggestions or refusals
Examples: ÂżPodrĂa ayudarme?- Could you help me?
QuerrĂamos dos refrescos por favor – We would like two drinks please.
Lo siento pero no le aceptarĂa la invitaciĂłn – I am sorry but I couldn’t accept the invitation
4. Si (if, then) clauses– conditional is also used in the second type of if clauses to express unlikely situations: (imperfect subjunctive + conditional)
Example: Si fueras con nosotros, podrĂas visitar a tu abuela – If you went with us, you could visit your grandmother.
Conditional Tense Quiz
Complete each sentence with the correct conditional form of the verb in parentheses
The correct answer is tendrĂas.
The correct answer is querrĂa.
The correct answer is irĂamos.
The correct answer is darĂa.