How to form and use the conditional tense in Spanish.

Definition: the conditional tense is in the future. It translates in English as …

I would …You would …

He/She would …

We would …

You would (pl) …

They would …

•To start with, you need an infinitive, i.e. vivir, comer, escuchar .. etc

•Then, you need to add on the endings to the infinitive. The endings are …

-ía

-ías

-ía

-íamos

-íais

-ían

•These endings work for -er, -ir and also -ar verbs, like the future tense.

As with any tense, there are some irregulars, unfortunately. And these are …

Decir – dir…

Hacer – har…

Poder – podr…

Poner – pondr…

Querer – querr…

Saber – sabr…

Salir – saldr…

Tener – tendr…

Venir – vendr…

Haber – habr…

Caber – cabr…

You just add the endings onto these stems, instead of the infinitive.

And, as you should all notice, these are the same verbs that are irregular for the future tense as well, as they all have the same irregular future stem, i.e., the bit you add the ending onto.

So, now for some exercises to help everyone understand

how to properly form the tense.

Just to remember them for the exercises …

-ía

-ías

-ía

-ían

-íais

-íamos

How do you say … ?

I would speak Hablaría

You would listen

These are all regular verbs.

Escucharías

She would eat Comería

We would start Comenzaríamos

You (pl) would go Iríais

They would drink Beberían

This is the same exercise but with the irregular verbs.

We would say Diríamos

I would fit Cabría

They would know Sabrían

You would want Querrías

He would be able to Podría

You (pl) would go out Saldríais

1. You start with an infinitive of the verb.

2. You then add on the appropriate ending onto the infinitive.

3. When the verb is irregular, use the future verb stem and then add on the same appropriate ending.

-ía -ías -ía

-íamos -íais -ían

Hacer – har…

Caber – cabr…

Querer – querr…

Saber – sabr…

Decir – dir…

Venir – vendr…

Poner – pondr…

Tener – tendr…

Salir – saldr…

Haber – habr…

Poder – podr…