How to form and use the conditional tense in Spanish.
Definition: the conditional tense is in the future. It translates in English as …
I would …You would …
He/She would …
We would …
You would (pl) …
They would …
•To start with, you need an infinitive, i.e. vivir, comer, escuchar .. etc
•Then, you need to add on the endings to the infinitive. The endings are …
-ía
-ías
-ía
-íamos
-íais
-ían
•These endings work for -er, -ir and also -ar verbs, like the future tense.
As with any tense, there are some irregulars, unfortunately. And these are …
Decir – dir…
Hacer – har…
Poder – podr…
Poner – pondr…
Querer – querr…
Saber – sabr…
Salir – saldr…
Tener – tendr…
Venir – vendr…
Haber – habr…
Caber – cabr…
You just add the endings onto these stems, instead of the infinitive.
And, as you should all notice, these are the same verbs that are irregular for the future tense as well, as they all have the same irregular future stem, i.e., the bit you add the ending onto.
So, now for some exercises to help everyone understand
how to properly form the tense.
Just to remember them for the exercises …
-ía
-ías
-ía
-ían
-íais
-íamos
How do you say … ?
I would speak Hablaría
You would listen
These are all regular verbs.
Escucharías
She would eat Comería
We would start Comenzaríamos
You (pl) would go Iríais
They would drink Beberían
This is the same exercise but with the irregular verbs.
We would say Diríamos
I would fit Cabría
They would know Sabrían
You would want Querrías
He would be able to Podría
You (pl) would go out Saldríais
1. You start with an infinitive of the verb.
2. You then add on the appropriate ending onto the infinitive.
3. When the verb is irregular, use the future verb stem and then add on the same appropriate ending.
-ía -ías -ía
-íamos -íais -ían
Hacer – har…
Caber – cabr…
Querer – querr…
Saber – sabr…
Decir – dir…
Venir – vendr…
Poner – pondr…
Tener – tendr…
Salir – saldr…
Haber – habr…
Poder – podr…
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