{"id":144555,"date":"2024-02-21T03:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T08:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/spanish-conditional-tense\/"},"modified":"2024-11-27T04:00:55","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T09:00:55","slug":"spanish-conditional-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/spanish-conditional-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Form and Use the Spanish Conditional Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"

How much time do you spend talking about things that could have happened, or things that could still<\/em> happen in the future?\u00a0Whether it’s in English or Spanish, we use the conditional tense for these situations.<\/p>\n

Below we will show you everything you need to know about the conditional tense in Spanish. Specifically, we’re going to talk about what it is, how it’s conjugated, how it’s used and the four types of Spanish conditionals you should be aware of.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is the Spanish Conditional Tense?<\/h2>\n

Spanish conditionals are used to talk about hypothetical things\u2014things that could be, could have been or would have happened. They’re typically formed by adding the endings -\u00eda<\/em>, -\u00edas<\/em>, -\u00eda<\/em>, -\u00edamos<\/em>, -\u00edais<\/em> or -\u00edan<\/em> to the infinitive form of a verb.<\/p>\n

Think of the entire conditional tense as the English equivalent of “could’ve,” “should’ve” or “would’ve.” For example:<\/p>\n

If I had a remote job, I would<\/strong> travel<\/strong> the world.<\/p>\n

You shouldn’t<\/strong> go<\/strong> out tonight.<\/p>\n

In Spanish, there are two conditional tenses: simple conditional and conditional perfect.<\/p>\n

The simple conditional<\/strong> is what most people mean when they talk about the “conditional” tense. It typically applies to things that could happen now or in the future. For example:<\/p>\n

Viajar\u00eda<\/strong> a<\/em> Jap\u00f3n<\/em>.
\n(I would travel<\/strong> to Japan.)<\/p>\n

\u00bfPodr\u00edas<\/strong><\/em> ayudarme?<\/em>
\n(Could you<\/strong> help me?)<\/p>\n

Then we have the conditional perfect, <\/strong>which is used to say “would have.”\u00a0Here are some examples of the conditional perfect:<\/p>\n

Habr\u00eda llegado<\/strong> en Chile a las 8 si mi vuelo no retras\u00f3.\u00a0
\n<\/em>(I would have arrived<\/strong> in Chile at 8 if my flight wasn’t delayed.)<\/p>\n

Ellos habr\u00edan venido<\/strong> con nosotros, pero su mam\u00e1 no los permiti\u00f3.
\n<\/em>(They would have come<\/strong> with us, but their mom wouldn’t let them.)<\/p>\n

How to Conjugate the Spanish Conditional<\/h2>\n

To conjugate the Spanish conditional, just add the endings -\u00eda, -\u00edas, -\u00eda, -\u00edamos, -\u00edais<\/em> or -\u00edan<\/em> to the infinitive form of the verb. This applies to both regular and irregular verbs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All regular verbs in the simple conditional tense (whether they end in -ar<\/em>, -er<\/em> or -ir<\/em>) are conjugated like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Subject Pronoun<\/th>Conditional Tense Conjugation<\/th>Example -ar<\/em> Verb Hablar<\/i> (To Speak)<\/th>Example -er<\/em> Verb Comer<\/i> (To Eat)<\/th>Example -ir<\/em> Verb Escribir<\/i> (To Write)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Yo <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>-\u00eda<\/i><\/td> hablar\u00eda<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td> comer\u00eda<\/b> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> escribir\u00eda<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T\u00fa <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>-\u00edas<\/i><\/td> hablar\u00edas<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td> comer\u00edas<\/b> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> escribir\u00edas<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00c9l <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Ella <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Usted <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		-\u00eda<\/i><\/td> hablar\u00eda<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td> comer\u00eda<\/b> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> escribir\u00eda<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nosotros <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Nosotras <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		-\u00edamos<\/i><\/td> hablar\u00edamos<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td> comer\u00edamos<\/b> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> escribir\u00edamos<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vosotros <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Vosotras <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		-\u00edais<\/i><\/td> hablar\u00edais<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td> comer\u00edais<\/b> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> escribir\u00edais<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ellos <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Ellas <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Ustedes <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		-\u00edan<\/i><\/td> hablar\u00edan<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td> comer\u00edan<\/b> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> escribir\u00edan<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Spanish Conditional Perfect<\/h3>\n

To form the conditional perfect, we use the formula:<\/p>\n

Simple conditional of haber<\/em> + past participle of the main verb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the irregular verb\u00a0haber <\/em>(to have<\/a>) fully conjugated in the simple conditional:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Subject Pronoun<\/th>Haber<\/i> Conditional Conjugation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Yo <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> habr\u00eda<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T\u00fa <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td> habr\u00edas<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00c9l <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Ella <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Usted <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		 habr\u00eda<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nosotros <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Nosotras <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		 habr\u00edamos<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vosotros <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Vosotras <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		 habr\u00edais<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ellos <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Ellas <\/a>\n <\/i>
\n Ustedes <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>		 habr\u00edan<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Next, you’ll need the past participle<\/strong>. This is formed by taking the verb’s stem and adding -ado<\/em> for -ar<\/em> verbs and adding -ido<\/em> for -er<\/em> and -ir<\/em> verbs.<\/p>\n

Using our example verbs above, their past participle conjugations for all of their corresponding subject pronouns would be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
Type of Verb<\/th>Infinitive Form<\/th>Stem<\/th>Past Participle Form<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
-ar<\/em><\/td> hablar <\/a>\n <\/em>
\n(to speak\/talk)<\/td>		habl-<\/em><\/td> hablado<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em>
\n(spoken\/talked)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-er<\/em><\/td> comer <\/a>\n <\/em>
\n(to eat)<\/td>		com-<\/em><\/td> comido<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em>
\n(eaten)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ir<\/em><\/td> escribir <\/a>\n <\/em>
\n(to write)<\/td>		escrib-<\/em><\/td> escrito<\/strong> <\/a>\n <\/em>
\n(written)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

For more examples of past participle verbs and their conjugations, check out this post:<\/p>\n

Past Participle in Spanish (Forming and Using It)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n