The conditional tense

(El condicional)

hablar

hablar hablar

hablar

hablar

hablar

ías

ía

íais

ían

íamos

In Spanish, the conditional of regular verbs is formed by adding the imperfect endings for -er and -ir verbs to the infinitive. The same endings are used for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.

ía

Again, the infinitive is the basis for all forms of regular verbs.

Notice that all forms carry a written accent over the i.

hablar

hablar

hablar

hablar

hablar

hablar

ías

ía

íais

ían

íamos

The Spanish conditional tense is formed with only one set of endings for the -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. For regular verbs, the endings are attached to the infinitive, as follows:

ía

Again, the infinitive is the basis for all forms of regular verbs.

Notice that all forms carry a written accent over the i.

hablar hablaría ían

Notice the following chart:The Conditional Tense

tomar comer

yotú

él, ella, Ud.nosotros/asvosotros/as

ellos/as, Uds.

tomaríatomaríastomaríatomaríamostomaríaistomarían

comeríacomeríascomeríacomeríamoscomeríaiscomerían

viviríaviviríasviviríaviviríamosviviríaisvivirían

vivir

The conditional expresses what you would do under certain circumstances.

¿Reciclarías envases de aluminio?Would you recycle aluminum cans?

Consumiríamos menos agua.

We would consume less water.

The Conditional Tense

leer

escribir

hablar

In the future tense, we might say . . .

con el profesor,

Mañana en la clase, é

é un cuento chistoso, y

é unas frases.

The conditional is also used when the speaker is referring to an event that is future to another past event.

The Conditional Tense

unas frases.

un cuento chistoso, y

In the conditional tense, we would say . . .

Ayer te dije que hoy,

ía con el profesor,

ía un cuento chistoso, y

ía unas frases.

leer

escribir

hablar con el profesor,é

é

é

The conditional is also used when the speaker is referring to an event that is future to another past event.

The Conditional Tense

The conditional is also used when the speaker is referring to an event that is future to another past event.

Creíamos que habría más gente protestando enfrente de la planta nuclear.

We thought there would be more people protesting in front of the nuclear plant.

Nos dijo que no contaminarían el agua.He told us they wouldn’t pollute the water.

The Conditional Tense

More examples:

the presentthe conditionalthe preterit

A Time Line

(future in relation to the past)(ayer)

Te dije ayer que hablaría con Juan.

Yo hablaré con Juan.

Toward the past Toward the future

the present

The verb deber, when used in the conditional tense, is equivalent to the English should + infinitive.

Deberías conservar recursos.You should conserve resources.

Deberíamos hablar con el jefe lo antes posible.

We should speak with the boss as soon as possible.

The Conditional Tense

Irregular Verbs in the Conditional TenseThe conditional has the same irregular stems as the future.

1. Drop two letters to form the stem of the future.

decir

hacer

d

ha

ecir

cer

- diríadiríasdiría

diríamosdiríaisdirían

- haríaharíasharía

haríamosharíaisharían

2. The e of the infinitive ending is dropped to form the stem of the future.

haberpoder

habpod

erer- habría, habrías, . . .

- podría, podrías, . . .

querer querer- querría, querrías, . . .

saber saber- sabría, sabrías, . . .

Irregular Verbs in the Conditional TenseThe conditional has the same irregular stems as the future.

idten

3. The e or the i of the infinitive ending is replaced by d to form the stem of the future.

ponersalir

ponsal

erir

- pondría, pondrías, . .

- saldría, saldrías, . . .tener er- tendría, tendrías, . . .venir ven r - vendría, vendrías, . .

ddd

Irregular Verbs in the Conditional TenseThe conditional has the same irregular stems as the future.

A Special Use of the Conditional TenseProbability or conjecture with regard to the past is often expressed in Spanish with the conditional.

¿A que hora sería la conferencia de prensa?I wonder at what time the press conference was.

Sería a las cuatro.It was probably at four.

FIN