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What the conditional tense is and how it compares to the conditional tense as used in English. (Would, could and should.) |
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When we use the conditional tense in Spanish and English. |
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A look at how the conditional tense is formed for regular verbs. (Regular endings but with irregular stems!) |
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A look at how the conditional tense is formed for irregular verbs. (Regular endings but with irregular stems!) |
| What you can learn from this lesson | |
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Understanding how the conditional tense is used in speech, when it might be used and how this compares to how the tense is used in English. |
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To be able to apply the common conjugation rules to all verb endings that exist in the conditional tense and to be able to recognise various stem patterns for irregular verbs. |
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Knowing how to correctly use and conjugate the conditional forms of ‘could’ and ‘should’. |
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To appreciate how in reality, that the English words ‘would’, ‘could’ and ‘should’ cannot be directly translated into Spanish. These words alone do not exist! |
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PART 1
The first part of this lesson looks at what the conditional tense is and how it compares to the conditional tense as used in English.
The conditional tense in English is formed in one of three ways. Either by using the word ‘would’, ‘could’ or ‘should’. In Spanish, as with other tenses it is formed by changing the principle verb in a sentence. In the example below it is the word ‘jugar’ (to play) that is altered.
Yo jugaría contigo pero no tengo tiempo. |
I would play with you but I don't have time. |
It is important to remember that the words ‘would’, ‘could’ and ‘should’ cannot be directly translated into Spanish. The way they are translated is by altering specific verbs. The words ‘could’ and ‘should’ are translated by altering the Spanish verbs ‘poder’(to be able) and ‘deber’ (to owe / owe a duty to).
Yo podría ayudarte. (I could help you.)
Yo debería ayudarte. (I should help you.)
The word ‘would’ in English is translated by changing all other verbs depending on what is being talked about. In the example above it was the verb ‘jugar’ (to play), but it may be any verb except ‘poder’(to be able) and ‘deber’ (to owe / owe a duty to).
PART 2
When we use the conditional tense.
The conditional tense is used in a very similar way in both English and Spanish. Lets look at ‘could’, ‘should’ and ‘would’ separately.
We use ‘could’ when:
1) Making suggestions.
(Tú) podrías comprar una casa. (You could buy a house.)
Él podría ser famoso un día. (He could be famous one day.)
2) When talking about things that could happen or be true under certain conditions (if statements). Take a look at the lesson on the past subjunctive for more information on if statements.
Usted podría ganar si entrenará más. (You could win if you
were to train more.)
(Tú) podrías venir
si estuvieras acá. (You could come if you were here.)
3) When asking for things in a more polite way.
¿Me podrías ayudar por favor? (Could you help me please?)
¿Me podrías pasar
la sal por favor? (Could you pass me the salt please?)
We use ‘should’ when:
1) When giving advice.
Nosotros deberíamos ir a la fiesta juntos. (We should go to the party together.)
Vosotros deberíais aprender a cantar más suave. (You should all learn to sing more softly.)
2) When talking about things that should happen or be true, sometimes under certain conditions (if statements). Take a look at the lesson on the past subjunctive for more information on if statements.
Yo debería ganar porque estoy más grande. (I should win because I’m bigger.)
Él debería obtener una buena marca si estudiara más. (He should get a good mark if he studies more.)
3) When asking for advice
¿(Tú) piensas que yo debería ir? (Do you think I should go?)
We use ‘would’ when:
1) When talking about the things you would like to do.
Me gustaría ser muy famoso. (I would like to be very famous.)
¿Te gustaría ser famoso? (Would you like to be famous?)
2) When giving advice or when talking about things that would happen if something else were to happen or be true (if statements). Take a look at the lesson on the past subjunctive for more information on if statements.
Yo le besaría si fuera tú. (I would kiss him if I were you.)
Seria bueno si hubiera sol hoy día. (It would be good if it were sunny today.)
3) When saying what you would do in the past.
(Yo) dije que le ayudaría. (I said that I would help him.)
PART 3
Part three of the lesson looks at how regular verbs are formed when using the conditional tense. Take a look at the following examples of an AR, ER and IR verb and then at ‘poder’(to be able) and ‘deber’(to owe / to owe a duty to). ‘Deber’ is a regular verb in the conditional tense but ‘poder’ is not!
| personal pronoun | planchar | lamer | hervir |
| (to iron) | (to lick) | (to boil) | |
| yo | plancharía | lamería | herviría |
| tú | plancharías | lamerías | hervirías |
| él/ella/usted | plancharía | lamería | herviría |
| nosotros/nosotras | plancharíamos | lameríamos | herviríamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | plancharíais | lameríais | herviríais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | plancharían | lamerían | hervirían |
| personal pronoun | poder | deber |
| (to be able) | (to owe / owe a duty to) | |
| yo | podría | debería |
| tú | podrías | deberías |
| él/ella/usted | podría | debería |
| nosotros/nosotras | podríamos | deberíamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | podríais | deberíais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | podrían | deberían |
Things to note.
1) The endings of all verbs are the same for all regular verbs; AR, ER and IR verbs.
2) All verb formations have an accent mark (tilde), above the ‘i’.
3) ‘Poder’ is an irregular verb and is formed by removing the ‘e’ in the ending and replacing it with the same endings that are used for regular verbs.
4) The endings of verbs that are formed with the personal pronouns ‘yo’ and ‘él/ella/usted’ are the same.
PART 4
Part three of the lesson looks at how irregular verbs in the conditional tense are formed. Although some verbs are irregular in the conditional tense they all take a common formation pattern. Irregular verbs take the same endings as regular verbs but they also have different stems. The verb stems however, are formed in exactly the same way as they are formed in the future tense. Take a look at the lesson on the future tense for more details.
All verbs that are irregular in the future tense are also irregular in the conditional tense. Take a look at these common examples:
| yo | tú | el/ella/usted | nosotros/as | vosotros/as | ellos/ellas/ ustedes |
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| decir (to say) |
diría | dirías | diría | diríamos | diríais | dirían |
| hacer (to do/make) |
haría | harías | haría | haríamos | haríais | harían |
| poder (to be able) |
podría | podrías | podría | podríamos | podríais | podrían |
| poner (to put) |
pondría | pondrías | pondría | pondríamos | pondríais | pondrían |
| querer (to want) |
querría | querrías | querría | querríamos | querríais | querrían |
| saber (to know) |
sabría | sabrías | sabría | sabríamos | sabríais | sabrían |
| tener (to have) |
tendría | tendrías | tendría | tendríamos | tendríais | tendrían |
| venir (to come) |
vendría | vendrías | vendría | vendríamos | vendríais | vendrían |
| salir (to leave) |
saldría | saldrías | saldría | saldríamos | saldríais | saldrían |
| haber (to have) |
habría | habrías | habría | habríamos | habríais | habrían |
That concludes the lesson on the future tense. If you have
not done so already watch the actual video for this lesson and then try one of
the associated quizzes to test your understanding.
