The Spanish conditional tense (condicional simple) is used to adjust an indicative statement to introduce doubt, a hypothetical, wonder or curiosity. Translated to English, the conditional form of a Spanish verb takes the place of could, would, and should.
Conjugating the Spanish Condicional Tense
The tense is one of the easiest to conjugate. Simply take the infinitive form of the verb, and add the following endings:
- -ía
- -ías
- -ía
- -íamos
- -íais
- -ían
These are the same for AR, ER and IR verbs.
| AR | ER | IR |
|---|---|---|
| caminaría | jugaría | moriría |
| caminarías | jugarías | morirías |
| caminaría | jugaría | moriría |
| caminaríamos | jugaríamos | moriríamos |
| caminaríais | jugaríais | moriríais |
| caminarían | jugarían | morirían |
Irregular verbs in the Conditional tense
| Verb | Stem |
|---|---|
| Caber | cabr- |
| Decir | dir- |
| Haber | habr- |
| Hacer | har- |
| Poder | podr- |
| Poner | pondr- |
| Querer | querr- |
| Salir | saldr- |
| Tener | tendr- |
| Valer | valdr- |
| Venir | vendr- |
As with other tenses, when a verb includes one of these irregulars (eg detener, mantener), they will also share that change of stem, eg detendría, matendría.
Practical usage of the Conditional Tense
- To express possibility – hypotheticals
- To express probability in the past tense
- To express actions that would take place but cannot
- To soften requests
- In indirect speech (estilo indirecto)
