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Would you like to learn how to express hypotheses, wishes or suggestions in Spanish? The Spanish conditional is the perfect tense for this and as a Spanish student you must learn how to use it to communicate effectively.
Understanding its formation and use and communicating more naturally and precisely with native speakers is possible by using the Spanish conditional. This article by don Quijote helps you understand the Spanish conditional tense. Keep reading and don’t miss anything!
You can read this same text in Spanish, French or Italian.
Spanish conditional tense
The Spanish conditional is a verb tense used to talk about hypothetical or future situations from the past. It is also used to express courtesy, wishes and advice.
For example:
- In a hypothetical situation: “Si tuviera más tiempo, estudiaría otro idioma” (If I had more time, I would study another language)
- To express courtesy: “Me gustaría un café, por favor” (I would like a coffee, please)
Think of the Spanish conditional tense as a way of talking about things that could happen but are not guaranteed. This can help you understand this Spanish tense conjugation.
How to form the Spanish conditional?
The conditional in Spanish is formed by adding the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive of the verb, according to the person and number. These examples with the three Spanish verb endings will help you see how it works:
.blog-custom-table tr, .blog-custom-table th, .blog-custom-table td{border:solid 1px;padding:6px}Verb | Yo | Tú | Él / Ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ellos |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hablar | Hablaría | Hablarías | Hablaría | Hablaríamos | Hablaríais | Hablarían |
Comer | Comería | Comerías | Comería | Comeríamos | Comeríais | Comerían |
Vivir | Viviría | Vivirías | Viviría | Viviríamos | Viviríais | Viviríamos |
However, in Spanish there are also irregular verbs that do not follow the same rules as regular verbs. Some irregular verbs with the Spanish conditional are:
- Tener (to have) – Tendría (I would have)
- Hacer (to do) – Haría (I would do)
- Poder (to be able to) – Podría (I would be able to)
- Decir (to say) – Diría (I would say)
- Querer (to want) – Querría (I would want)
The irregular verbs in the Spanish conditional tense are the same as in the simple future. Therefore, if you learn how one works, you will also have mastered the other.