Grammar Review: 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/Ud.  forms are identical, it's a good idea to include a subject pronoun if the subject isn't clear.

Chart showing conjugation in conditional tense of Spanish “-ar” / “-er” / “-ir” endings. -ía, -íamos, -ías, -íais, ía, ían

Some examples:

Chart showing conjugation in conditional tense of Hablar, Comer, and Vivir. hablaría, hablaríamos, hablarías, hablaríais, hablaría, hablarían, Comer, comería, comeríamos, comerías, comeriais, comería, comerían, Vivir, viviría, viviríamos, vivirías, viviríais, viviría, vivirían

Spanish sentence examples of the conditional tense. 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 camion. I’d drive the truck.

The following video will help you review the conditional tense. Take notes as you view the material as you will be responsible for the content. Be sure your speakers are turned up!

Please watch the video below.

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:

Chart of Spanish irregular conditional verbs. caber, to fit, cabr-, decir , to say, tell, dir-, hacer , to make, to do, har-, poder, to be able to, podr-, poner, to put, pondr-, querer, to want, querr-, saber, to know, sabr-, salir, to leave, to go out, saldr-, tener, to have, tendr-, valer, to be worth, valdr-, venir, to come, vendr-

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.

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.

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

El Condicional Review

Test your knowledge. Please complete the following activity.

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