El condicional – the conditional mood
The conditional tense in Spanish is used to talk about hypothetical
situations and actions that depend on something else (‘would’, ‘could’,
‘should’). It is also used to make polite requests.
| infinitive +
| -ar, -er, -ir
|
| yo
| -ía
|
| tú
| -ías
|
| usted, él/ella
| -ía
|
| nosotros/as
| -íamos
|
| vosotros/as
| -íais
|
| ustedes, ellos/ellas
| -ían
|
Originally formed from
infinitive + suffix from
haber imperfect tense (había, habías, había, habíamos,
habíais, habían);
e.g.,
comer-ía,
comer-ías,
etc. (similar
to the way the
Future tense was formed).
The endings are identical to the Imperfect for -er
and -ir verbs, including haber.
Probable or hypothetical uses (including ‘future in the past’):
Sería las tres – It was probably three o’clock
Juan dijo que vendría – Juan said he would come
Si tuviera suficiente dinero, iría a España – If I had enough
money, I would go to Spain
Si yo fuera usted, vería a un médico – If I were you I would
see a doctor
Polite requests:
Podría decirme si ... – Could/would you tell me if ...
Querríamos un coche – We would like a car
Me gustaría verlo – I should like to see it
¿Podrías pasar la sal? / ¿Pasarías la sal? – Would
you pass the salt?
There are 12 ‘common’ irregular stems (those that are not the infinitive);
these are the same for the Future tense:
| infinitive
| stem
|
|
| caber
| cabr
| to fit/be possible
|
| decir
| dir
| to say
|
| haber
| habr
| to have
|
| hacer
| har
| to do/make
|
| poder
| podr
| to be able to
|
| poner
| pondr
| to put
|
| querer
| querr
| to want
|
| saber
| sabr
| to know
|
| salir
| saldr
| to leave
|
| tener
| tendr
| to have
|
| valer
| valdr
| to be worth, cost
|
| venir
| vendr
| to come
|
There are other similar or compound irregular stems, e.g., mantener/mantendr...