The Conditional Tense• The conditional tense can be thought of

as the “would” tense. Use the conditional to describe things that “would” or “could” be:

I would call him, but I’m shy. If I were rich, I would buy a Porsche. Could I have a napkin, please? I wouldn’t do that! She could leave, if she had a ride.

Here are the correct endings for the conditional tense. Notice that the endings are the same for all three kinds of verbs!

Subject -AR, -ER, & -IR Verbs

Yo -ía

Tú - ías

Él, Ella, Usted -ía

Nosotros - íamos

Vosotros -íais

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

-ían

The conditional tense conjugates in the same fashion as the future tense - don’t remove the –AR, -ER, or –IR! Just add the subject ending right onto the end of the verb!

Here’s an an example of the conjugation process. We’ll use the “yo” form for this example.

CANTAR

To sing

Simply attach the ending which matches the subject. That’s it!

TOSING

ÍA

I would sing

-ER and -IR verbs work the same way as -AR verbs.

COMER

To eat

VIVIR

To live

Just add the correct ending.

To livee

To livee

ÍAN

They would live

You would eat

ÍAS

Here’s a full conjugation chart for all 3 verb types.

Subject Cantar to sing

Comer to eat

Vivir to live

Yo CantaríaI would sing

Comería I would eat

ViviríaI would live

Tú CantaríasYou (inf) would sing

ComeríasYou (inf) would eat

ViviríasYou (inf) would live

Él, Ella, Usted

CantaríaHe/She would singYou (for) would sing

ComeríaHe/She would eatYou (for) would eat

ViviríaHe/She would liveYou (for) would live

Nosotros CantaríamosWe would sing

ComeríamosWe would eat

ViviríamosWe would live

Vosotros CantaríaisYou (in pl) would sing

ComeríaisYou (in pl) would eat

ViviríaisYou (in pl) would live

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

CantaríanThey would singYou (f pl) would sing

ComeríanThey would eatYou (f pl) would eat

ViviríanThey would liveYou (f pl) would live

Now you try it! On a piece of paper, or in your head, conjugate the following and then click for the correct answer.

He would ask. (Preguntar)

I would study. (Estudiar)

They would run. (Correr)

You (inf) would write. (Escribir)

Él preguntaría.

Yo estudiaría.

Ellos correrían.

Tú escribirías.

Irregulars

Irregular verbs in the conditional tense have the same stem as they do in the future tense. To conjugate them, just add the regular conditional tense ending to these stems. Remember, any verb which contains one of these irregular verbs will inherit its stem in the conditional.

For example; proponer = propondr-.

Verb New stem

Salir Saldr-

Tener Tendr-

Poder Podr-

Poner Pondr-

Saber Sabr-

Querer Querr-

Venir Vendr-

Hacer Har-

Haber Habr-

Decir Dir-

Here are some examples as well as the other two common irregular verbs in the future and the conditional;

Subject

Caber To fit

Valer To be worth, cost

Yo CabríaI would fit

Valdría I would be worth

Tú CabríasYou (inf) would fit

ValdríasYou (inf) would be worth

Él, Ella, Usted

CabríaHe/ She would fitYou (for) would fit

ValdríaHe/She would be worthYou (for) would be worth

Nosotros

CabríamosWe would fit

ValdríamosWe would be worth

Vosotros

CabríaisYou (inf pl) would fit

ValdríaisYou (inf pl) would be worth

Ellos, Ellas,

Ustedes

CabríanThey would fitYou (for pl) would fit

ValdríanThey would be worthYou (for pl) would be worth

Finally, note the following;

• Although the conditional tense is usually translated as “would” it’s not the only tense that can mean would. When would is used to refer to something that was habitual in the past, you should use the imperfect past tense . For example: We would always lose.

• Because the conditional can translate as “could”, this tense is often used to make polite requests.For example: Could I please borrow a pencil?

• There are no stem changers in the conditional tense.• Estar, Ser, and Ir are regular in the conditional tense.• Just as the future tense may be used to express

probability in the present, the conditional may be used to express it in the past. For example; She’s probably at home (present) = Estará en casa. (future)She was probably at home (past) = Estaría en casa. (cond.)

¡El Fin!