In this post, you will learn about the conjugations and all the uses of the Spanish conditional tense.
Unlike other articles, here you will find all the conditional tenses, including the progressive and perfect conditional tenses. In addition, there are plenty of examples with audios to help you better understand the concepts and to practice your listening skills.
The Spanish Conditional Tense
Mainly, this tense corresponds to ‘would’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘probably’, ‘must have been’, ‘would be doing’ or ‘would have been’ in English.
In Spanish, there are three conditional tenses:
- Simple Conditional Tense
- Progressive Conditional Tense
- Perfect Conditional Tense
Simple Conditional Tense
The simple conditional tense is the easiest Spanish conditional tense to learn. Firstly, in contrast to other Spanish tenses, the conjugations are very simple. In addition, this tense is used a lot like in English, with a few exceptions.
This form is translated as ‘would’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘probably’, ‘must have been’, in English.
HOW TO FORM THE SIMPLE CONDITIONAL TENSE
Regular Verbs
The only thing you need to know to conjugate the regular verbs is the endings, which are the same for all of them.
In this way, you just add the following endings to the infinitive form of the verb.
| Subj. Pron. | Endings |
|---|---|
| Yo | -ía |
| Tú | -ías |
| Él/ella/Ud. | -ía |
| Nosotros/as | -íamos |
| Vosotros/as | -íais |
| Ellos/as/Uds. | -ían |
EXAMPLES
| Subject | Caminar | Comer | Vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Caminaría | Comería | Viviría |
| Tú | Caminarías | Comerías | Vivirías |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Caminaría | Comería | Viviría |
| Nosotros/as | Caminaríamos | Comeríamos | Viviríamos |
| Vosotros/as | Caminaríais | Comeríais | Viviríais |
| Ellos/as/Uds. | Caminarían | Comerían | Vivirían |
Irregular Verbs
The same verbs that are irregular in the simple future tense are irregular here.
So, the stem changes however, the endings are regular.
(Only the yo form is shown in the table).
| Verb | Yo form | Verb | Yo form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caber | Cabría | Querer | Querría |
| Decir | Diría | Saber | Sabría |
| Haber | Habría | Salir | Saldría |
| Hacer | Haría | Tener | Tendría |
| Poder | Podría | Valer | Valdría |
| Poner | Pondría | Venir | Vendría |
HOW TO USE THE SIMPLE CONDITIONAL TENSE
Hypothetical Actions or Events
EXAMPLES
- Sería interesante estudiar biología. → It would be interesting to study Biology.
- ¿Irías a España? → Would you go to Spain?
Conjectures about the Past
EXAMPLES
- Estarían en el trabajo cuando llamaste. → They must have been or they were probably at work when you called.
- No fue a trabajar, estaría enfermo. → He didn´t go to work, he must have been sick or he was probably sick.
The Future from the Perspective of the Past
EXAMPLES
- Me dijo que llegaría tarde. → He told me he would be late.
- Sabía que la tienda no abría el fin de semana. → I knew the shop wouldn’t open on the weekend.
Conditional Sentences
EXAMPLES
- Si tuviera tiempo, te ayudaría. → If I had time, I would help you.
- Si hubiera entrenado más, ahora estaría en la final. → If I had trained more, I would be in the finals now.
Polite Requests
EXAMPLES
- ¿Podríamos quedarnos en tu casa? → Could we stay at your house?
- ¿Te importaría si uso el baño? → Would you mind if I use the bathroom?
Invitations
EXAMPLES
- ¿Querrías ir a la fiesta conmigo? → Would you like to go to the party with me?
- ¿Vendrías al cine con nosotros? → Would you come to the movie theater with us?
Desires
EXAMPLES
- Me encantaría ir a la fiesta contigo. → I would love to go to the party with you.
- Me gustaría viajar por el mundo. → I would like to travel around the world.
Suggestions and Advice
EXAMPLES
- Deberías ir al médico. → You should go to the doctor.
- Podrías tomarte unos días libres. → You could take some days off.
Progressive Conditional Tense
HOW TO FORM THE PROGRESSIVE CONDITIONAL TENSE
The progressive conditional tense is form by combining the simple conditional tense of the verb estar and the present participle of the second verb.
The present participle corresponds to the ‘-ing’ form in English.
This tense is translated as ‘would be doing’ in English.
The Verb Estar – Simple Conditional Tense
Abbreviation: Subject pronoun (SUBJ. PRON.).
| Subj. Pron. | Conjugations |
|---|---|
| Yo | Estaría |
| Tú | Estarías |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Estaría |
| Nosotros/as | Estaríamos |
| Vosotros/as | Estaríais |
| Ellos/as/Uds. | Estarían |
Regular Verbs – Present Participle
To form the present participle of regular verbs, you just need to add the following endings to the infinitive form of the verb.
Abbreviation: Present Participle (PR. PPLE.).
| Verb Ending | Pr. Pple. |
|---|---|
| -ar | -ando |
| -er | -iendo |
| -ir | -iendo |
EXAMPLES
| Subject | Caminar | Comer | Vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Estaría caminando | Estaría comiendo | Estaría viviendo |
| Tú | Estarías caminando | Estarías comiendo | Estarías viviendo |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Estaría caminando | Estaría comiendo | Estaría viviendo |
| Nosotros/as | Estaríamos caminando | Estaríamos comiendo | Estaríamos viviendo |
| Vosotros/as | Estaríais caminando | Estaríais comiendo | Estaríais viviendo |
| Ellos/as/Uds | Estarían caminando | Estarían comiendo | Estarían viviendo |
Other Verbs – Present Participle
Abbreviation: Present Participle (PR. PPLE.).
| Verb | Pr. Pple. |
|---|---|
| Contruir | Construyendo |
| Decir | Diciendo |
| Dormir | Durmiendo |
| Ir | Yendo |
| Leer | Leyendo |
| Morir | Muriendo |
| Oír | Oyendo |
| Poder | Pudiendo |
| Reñir | Riñendo |
| Venir | Viniendo |
EXAMPLES
| Subject | Dormir | Leer | Venir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Estaría durmiendo | Estaría leyendo | Estaría viniendo |
| Tú | Estarías durmiendo | Estarías leyendo | Estarías viniendo |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Estaría durmiendo | Estaría leyendo | Estaría viniendo |
| Nosotros/as | Estaríamos durmiendo | Estaríamos leyendo | Estaríamos viniendo |
| Vosotros/as | Estaríais durmiendo | Estaríais leyendo | Estaríais viniendo |
| Ellos/as/Uds | Estarían durmiendo | Estarían leyendo | Estarían viniendo |
HOW TO USE THE PROGRESSIVE CONDITIONAL TENSE
The progressive conditional tense describes an action that would be in progress at a certain point in time. In addition, it emphasizes the course of the action.
We mainly use this tense in the following situations:
The Future from the Perspective of the Past
EXAMPLES
- Mis amigos me dijeron que estarían estudiando español. → My friends told me they would be studying Spanish.
- Sabía que vosotros estaríais jugando al fútbol. → I knew you all would be playing soccer.
Conjectures about the Past
EXAMPLES
- ¿Dónde estaba tu hermano? Estaría trabajando. → ¿Where was your brother? He was probably working or he must have been working.
- No fueron a trabjar, estarían estudiando para el examen. → They didn´t go to work, he was probably studying for the test or he must have been studying for the test.
Conditional Sentences
EXAMPLES
- Si tuvieramos tiempo, estaríamos viajando por España. → If we had time, we would be traveling around Spain.
- Si Pepe estuviera aquí, estaría cantando. → If Pepe was here, he would be singing.
Perfect Conditional Tense
HOW TO FORM THE PERFECT CONDITIONAL TENSE
The perfect conditional tense is formed by combining the simple conditional tense of the verb haber and the past participle of the second verb.
This tense corresponds to ‘would have done’ in English.
The Verb Haber – Simple Conditional Tense
| Subject | Conjugations |
|---|---|
| Yo | Habría |
| Tú | Habrías |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Habría |
| Nosotros/as | Habríamos |
| Vosotros/as | Habríais |
| Ellos/as/Uds. | Habrían |
Regular Verbs
The past participle of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the following endings.
| Verb Ending | Past Pple. |
|---|---|
| -ar | -ado |
| -er | -ido |
| -ir | -ido |
EXAMPLES
| Subject | Caminar | Comer | Vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Habría caminado | Habría comido | Habría vivido |
| Tú | Habrías caminado | Habrías comido | Habrías vivido |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Habría caminado | Habría comido | Habría vivido |
| Nosotros/as | Habríamos caminado | Habríamos comido | Habríamos vivido |
| Vosotros/as | Habríais caminado | Habríais comido | Habríais vivido |
| Ellos/as/Uds. | Habrían caminado | Habrían comido | Habrían vivido |
Irregular Verbs
In the table below, you will find the most common irregular past participle verbs.
Abreviations: PPLE (past participle)
| Infinitive | Past Pple. |
|---|---|
| Abrir | Abierto |
| Decir | Dicho |
| Escribir | Escrito |
| Hacer | Hecho |
| Ver | Visto |
| Volver | Vuelto |
EXAMPLES
| Subject | Decir | Hacer | Volver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Habría dicho | Habría hecho | Habría vuelto |
| Tú | Habrías dicho | Habrías hecho | Habrías vuelto |
| Él/ella/Ud. | Habría dicho | Habría hecho | Habrías vuelto |
| Nosotros/as | Habríamos dicho | Habríamos hecho | Habríamos vuelto |
| Vosotros/as | Habríais dicho | Habríais hecho | Habríais vuelto |
| Ellos/as/Uds. | Habrían dicho | Habrían hecho | Habrían vuelto |
HOW TO USE THE PERFECT CONDITIONAL TENSE
Hypothetical Actions or Events about the Past
- Yo no habría ido. → I wouldn’t have gone.
- Juan se habría quedado más tiempo, pero tenía que trabajar. → Juan would have stayed longer, but he had to work.
Conjectures about an Action in the Past that Has Already Taken Place
- Cuando él llegó al restaurante no tenía hambre, seguramente habría comido antes. → When he arrived to the restaurant he was not hungry, he must have eaten before or he had probably eaten before.
- No vi a Pepe en la fiesta, me imagino que se habría ido. → I didn´t see Pepe at the party, I imagine he must have left or he had probably left.
Conditional
- Si hubiera estudiado más, habría aprobado el examen. → If I had studied more, I would have passed the test.
- Si no hubiéramos ido, no te habríamos visto. → If we hadn´t gone, we wouldn’t have seen you.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this post helps you understand the Spanish conditional tense.
I advise you to practice with the examples here and try to make up some others on your own.
If you want, I can help you practice with these tenses by using them while having a conversation during my online Spanish conversation classes.
In addition, we can practice in the comment section below by answering the following questions:
- ¿Qué idioma habrías estudiado si no hubieras elegido estudiar español?
- ¿Estarías leyendo este artículo si no quisieras mejorar tu español?
- ¿Te dijeron alguna vez que estudiar español sería fácil?
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