VIA: Gramática Lesson - El Condicional

El Condicional

As the name implies, the conditional is a verb conjugation used when some action is based upon some condition or somehow contingent on something else. This corresponds to the English use of the word would. For example:

• What would you do?
• I would leave immediately.

The conditional conjugations closely parallel those of the future tense.

As with the future tense, we don't need to bother removing the -ar, -er, or -ir endings when conjugating in the conditional. We use the entire infinitive as our stem. And again, it doesn't matter what kind of verb it is. Every verb uses these endings:

Note:  Because the yo and él/ella/Usted forms are identical, it's a good idea to include a subject pronoun if the subject isn't clear.

-ar/-er/-ir El Condicional Endings

Singular	Plural
-ía -ías -ía	-íamos -íais -ían

Some examples of how el condicional is conjugated:

El Condicional Examples

Hablar		Comer		Vivir
hablaría hablarías hablaría	hablaríamos hablaríais hablarían	comería comerías comería	comeríamos comeríais comerían	viviría vivirías viviría	viviríamos viviríais vivirían

Translation Examples

Review the examples below that show how el condicional is translated:

• Nosotros trabajaríamos por tanto dinero.
  • We would work for that much money.
• Tú entenderías más que yo.
  • You would understand more than I (would).
• Yo conduciría el camión.
  • I would drive the truck.

Using the Conditional

When should you use the conditional? The primary reason is to discuss hypothetical situations that may or may not yet occur. These situations are contingent upon some other condition or situation.

Note:  The conditional is also known as the hypothetical future.

• Sometimes the condition isn't explicitly stated and we're left to guess what it is:
  • Yo terminaría mi tarea.
  • I would finish my homework.
• Sometimes the condition is alluded to with a simple prepositional phrase:
  • Con más tiempo yo terminaría mi tarea.
  • With more time I would finish my homework.

• Sometimes the condition is a specific, present-tense circumstance introduced with pero:
  • Yo terminaría mi tarea pero no tengo tiempo.
  • I would finish my homework but I don't have time.

• And sometimes the condition itself is a hypothetical one introduced with si:
  • Yo terminaría mi tarea si tuviera más tiempo.
  • I would finish my homework if I had more time.

Video Presentation

View the following presentation on conditional tense. Take notes as you view the material as you will be responsible for the content. Be sure your speakers are turned up!

Irregular Conditional Verbs

The bad news: as explained in the video above, there are irregular conditional verbs. The good news: all the irregularities are exactly the same as the irregular future verbs you already know. We just add the conditional ending to the same irregular stems:

Verbs With Irregular Conditional Stems

Infinitive	Irregular Stem	Infinitive	Irregular Stem
caber (to fit) decir (to say, to tell) haber (to have) hacer (to make, to do) poder (to be able to) poner (to put)	cabr- dir- habr- har- podr- pondr-	querer (to want) saber (to know) salir (to leave) tener (to have) valer (to be worth) venir (to come)	querr- saber- saldr- tendr- valdr- vendr-

Practice Activity

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