Also referred to as el condicional simple (the simple conditional), the conditional tense is a valuable tool for expressing polite requests, advice, and hypothetical scenarios in Spanish. The conditional tense is used in Spanish to say the words “would,” “could,” and “should” in Spanish.
Learning the conjugation of the conditional tense is very easy if you can already form the simple future and the imperfect tense in Spanish, so you’re just one more step away from adding another Spanish verb tense to your list of ways to communicate.
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How do you form the conditional tense?
The Spanish conditional tense is created the same way for all -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs. You begin with the same stem as el futuro simple (the simple future), and the -ER/-IR verb endings from the pretérito imperfecto de indicativo (the imperfect indicative). If you already know these tenses, forming the conditional is easy.
Regular verbs use the entire infinitive as the stem. For example:
- Hablar (to speak) becomes hablaría (I would speak).
- Comer (to eat) becomes comerías (you would eat).
- Vivir (to live) becomes vivirían (they would live).
| Spanish Subject Pronoun | Conditional Verb Ending |
| yo I | -ía |
| tú you (informal) | -ías |
| él/ella he/she usted you (formal) | -ía |
| nosotros we | -íamos |
| vosotros you all (informal, Spain) | -íais |
| ellos/ellas they ustedes you all | -ían |
The conditional tense uses the same irregular stems as the Spanish future tense. Some of the most common verbs will have irregular stems in the future and conditional tenses.
- tener (to have) becomes tendría (I would have).
- decir (to say) becomes diría (I would say)
| Spanish Infinitive | English Meaning | Future Stem |
| decir | to say | dir- |
| hacer | to do/to make | har- |
| poder | to be able | podr- |
| poner | to put | pondr- |
| querer | to want | querr- |
| saber | to know (facts/information) | sabr- |
| salir | to go out | saldr- |
| tener | to have | tendr- |
| venir | to come | vendr- |
Use the conditional to say ‘would’ in Spanish
A common question Spanish language learners ask is, “How do you say ‘would’ in Spanish?” The answer is, you don’t. Spanish doesn’t have a direct equivalent for the English word “would” for hypothetical possibilities. Instead, you conjugate a verb in the conditional tense. This is helpful to talk about what would happen if conditions were different.
- Iría al trabajo en bicicleta, pero ya que está lloviendo, voy a manejar. = I would go to work on my bike, but because it’s raining, I’m going to drive.
Imagine conversing with a friend about winning the lottery in Spanish.
- ¿Qué comprarías tú con un millón de dólares? = What would you buy with a million dollars?
- Yo iría a España y compraría una villa en la playa. = I would go to Spain and would buy a villa on the beach.
Or what you would do if you got caught in a lie:
- Haría todos los quehaceres por un mes. = I would do all the chores for a month.
- Diría la verdad y les pediría perdón. = I would tell the truth and would ask for forgiveness.
- No saldría con mis amigos los fines de semana. = I wouldn’t go out with my friends on the weekends.
Say you ‘could’ do something with podría
If you want to say “could” in Spanish, use the verb poder in the conditional tense, followed by the infinitive of the next verb.
Compared to the Spanish imperative mood, the conditional offers a softer and more respectful approach to making requests. By using the conditional, you’re asking if something is possible or okay to do rather than directly commanding someone to do it.
- Recógela a las diez. = Pick it up at the airport at ten o’clock. (imperative)
- ¿Podría pasar a recogerla? = Could you come and pick it up? (conditional)
- Ayuda a tu hermano. = Help your brother. (imperative)
- ¿Podrías ayudar a tu hermano? = Could you help your brother? (conditional)
Using “could” in Spanish is a great way to politely brainstorm ideas for the next time you’re planning a celebration with friends.
- ¿Dónde podríamos almorzar? = Where could we have lunch?
- Podríamos decorar por la mañana. = We could decorate in the morning.
- Podrías hacer un pastel. = You could make a cake.
| Spanish Subject Pronoun | Poder Conditional |
| yo I | podría |
| tú you (informal) | podrías |
| él/ella he/she usted you (formal) | podría |
| nosotros we | podríamos |
| vosotros you all (informal, Spain) | podríais |
| ellos/ellas they ustedes you all | podrían |
Say ‘should’ with debería
Another helpful structure for making suggestions is the word “should.” Form this in Spanish with the conditional of deber (“must”/to be obligated) and then follow it with another infinitive verb.
Instead of saying “we must” you can still make a strong suggestion with deberíamos (we should).
- No deberías comer eso antes de la cena. = You shouldn’t eat that before dinner.
- El niño debería llevar siempre su casco cuando anda en bicicleta. = The boy should always wear his helmet when he rides his bike.
- Debería ir al nuevo restaurante italiano en el centro de la ciudad. = I should go back to that new Italian restaurant in the center of the city.
- No sé qué deberíamos hacer para la fiesta. = I don’t know what we should do for the party.
| Spanish Subject Pronoun | Deber Conditional |
| yo I | debería |
| tú you (informal) | deberías |
| él/ella he/she usted you (formal) | debería |
| nosotros we | deberíamos |
| vosotros you all (informal, Spain) | deberíais |
| ellos/ellas they ustedes you all | deberían |
Make polite requests and state preferences
Instead of using the imperative mood and commanding someone to take an action, you can use the conditional to soften the request and sound more polite. You would especially want to do this in public settings or formal meetings.
One very common expression is me gustaría (I would like). Though there are many ways to politely order in a restaurant, you can’t go wrong with starting all kinds of requests with me gustaría.
- ¿Qué te gustaría hacer hoy? = What would you like to do today?
- Me gustaría hacer una visita guiada a la ciudad.= I would like to do a guided tour of the city.
- ¿Qué les gustaría ordenar? = What would you like to order?
- Me gustaría ordenar los mariscos con hongos, por favor. = I would ike to order the seafood with mushrooms, please.
- ¿Le gustaría a usted ir a las montañas o a la playa? = Would you like to go to the mountains or the beach?
- A mí me gustaría ir a la playa. = I would like to go to the beach.
You can also use me gustaría to let someone down gently if they extend an invitation.
- ¿Quieres venir a mi fiesta de cumpleaños el viernes? = Do you want to come to my birthday party on Friday?
- Lo siento. Me gustaría ir, pero estoy ocupada el viernes. = I’m sorry. I would like to go, but I’m busy on Friday.
Express hypothetical ‘if…then’ statements
Hypothetical conversations are a fun, engaging way to practice speaking Spanish. To talk about hypothetical situations effectively, you need to be comfortable using the conditional tense and the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish.
Hypothetical events in Spanish are typically expressed using si (if) clauses. The following formula is used to express what would happen or what someone would do under certain unlikely conditions:
si (if) + el imperfecto de subjuntivo (the imperfect subjunctive) + el condicional simple (the conditional simple)
- Si hubiera un cajero automático aquí cerca, yo tendría efectivo. = If there were an ATM near here, I would have cash.
- No soy música… = I’m not a musician…
- …pero si fuera música, tocaría el piano. = …but if I were a musician, I would play the piano.
- Si ellos tuvieran paraguas, no estarían mojados. = If they had an umbrella, they wouldn’t be wet.
- Si él tuviera un carro, manejaría al trabajo. = If he had a car, he would drive to work.
- Si ella tuviera más dinero, le compraría un reloj a su esposo. = If she had more money, she would buy a watch for her husband.
Using the subjunctive for doubtful situations is one of the most important Spanish grammar rules. When combined with the conditional in hypothetical sentences, the imperfect subjunctive must be used to maintain the sequence of tenses in Spanish.
Expressing speculation about the past
The conditional tense is often used to express speculation or uncertainty about the past. When used to make educated guesses about past events, the Spanish conditional tense doesn’t directly translate to “would.”
- Esa sería la razón por la que no vinieron a la fiesta. = That may have been the reason why they didn’t come to the party.
Describing future events as viewed from a past standpoint
The conditional tense is used to describe future events as seen from a past point of view, reflecting what someone predicted or imagined would occur. It can be used to express past predictions and relate past stories or anecdotes.
- Pensé que usted llevaría ropa diferente a la nuestra… = I thought that you would wear different clothing than us.
- En la televisión dijeron que hoy haría sol. Sin embargo, llovió por la tarde. = On TV they said that today would be sunny. But it rained in the afternoon.
- Pensaba que te casarías con Ricardo. = I thought that you would marry Ricardo.
- Me dijiste que me ayudarían a decorar el árbol de Navidad. = You said that you would help me decorate the Christmas tree.
El condicional (conditional) vs. el imperfecto (imperfect) in Spanish
Learners can get confused between these two tenses, since both can translate to “would” in English, and also since the conditional endings are identical to the imperfect endings for -ER/-IR verbs.
To distinguish between the two, remember:
- The conditional tense is used for hypothetical future situations. Conditional endings are attached to the full infinitive or future stem.
- The imperfect tense describes repeated or habitual past actions, conditions, or events. Imperfect endings are attached directly to the verb stem.
To see the difference, compare these examples:
- Antes de ponerme a dieta, comía pasta todos los días. = Before I went on a diet, I ate pasta every day. (imperfect)
- Comería pasta todos los días si no estuviera a dieta. = I would eat pasta every day if I wasn’t on a diet. (conditional)
Other conditional tenses in Spanish
Beyond the simple conditional, other conditional tenses in Spanish allow you to express hypothetical scenarios in new ways.
Conditional perfect tense vs. conditional simple in Spanish
The conditional perfect, el condicional compuesto, is another form of the conditional used to describe what could have happened in a given situation but didn’t.
Unlike el condicional simple (the simple conditional), which focuses on hypothetical future events, the conditional perfect is used to express hypothetical scenarios in the past. The English equivalent of the conditional perfect tense is “could have” or “should have.”
The conditional perfect is a compound tense, meaning it’s formed using two verbs: haber in the conditional tense followed by the past participle, which typically ends in -ado or -ido.
Compare these examples to understand the difference between the simple conditional and conditional perfect.
- Carmen limpiaría la casa pero no tiene tiempo. = Carmen would clean the house but she doesn’t have time. (simple conditional)
- Carmen habría limpiado la casa pero no tenía tiempo. = Carmen would have cleaned the house but didn’t have time. (conditional perfect)
In the second example, habría is the conditional form of the verb haber (to have), and limpiado is the past participle of the verb limpiar (to clean).
Using the conditional perfect tense with si (if) clauses
While si clauses that express future hypothetical events require the imperfect subjunctive, si clauses used to express past hypothetical events require the pluperfect subjunctive (also referred to as the past perfect subjunctive).
The pluperfect subjunctive is formed with the imperfect subjunctive of the verb haber (have) followed by a past participle. The imperfect subjunctive of haber can be conjugated in two different ways, as demonstrated by the examples below. Both are correct, though the use of hubiera and its corresponding forms is more common.
- Si no hubiera llovido, habríamos ido a la playa. = If it hadn’t rained, we would have gone to the beach.
- Si hubiese practicado más, habría ganado el partido. = If I had practiced more, I would have won the game.
This formula is a common way to express regret about actions that happened in the past:
Si (if) + el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo (the pluperfect subjunctive) + el condicional compuesto (the conditional perfect)
When is the conditional progressive tense used in Spanish?
Beyond its use in the conditional perfect, the conditional tense is also used to form el condicional progresivo (the conditional progressive), which is used to discuss ongoing actions that would be happening under specific circumstances.
The conditional progressive is formed by combining the conditional tense of the verb estar with the present participle of another verb, which typically ends in -ando or -iendo.
- Si yo no tuviera que trabajar, estaríamos pasando más tiempo juntos . = If I didn’t have to work, we’d be spending more time together.
- Si hiciera buen tiempo, estarían relajándose en la playa. = If it were nice outside, they would be relaxing on the beach.
Key takeaways about the conditional tense in Spanish
As you learn Spanish, understanding the nuances of different Spanish verb tenses can help you achieve your language learning goals and enhance your conversations.
- The simple conditional tense in Spanish is equivalent to “would” in English.
- You can form “could” with the conditional of poder and “should” with the conditional of deber.
- The conditional tense is primarily used to discuss hypothetical scenarios, offer polite advice, make courteous requests, and express future desires.
- Regular verbs in the conditional tense are conjugated by adding the imperfect endings -ía, -ía, -ía, -íamos, -íais, or -ían to the infinitive of the verb.
- There are 12 irregular verbs in the conditional tense that have the same irregular stems as irregular verbs in the future tense.
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