The Conditional Tense: Would, Could, Should

Introduction

The conditional tense expresses what would happen under certain circumstances. It's also the go-to tense for polite requests, giving advice, and speculating about the past. Like the future tense, it's formed by adding endings to the full infinitive.

Good news: If you already know the future tense, the conditional uses the same irregular stems. Only the endings change.

Regular Conditional Conjugation

Add these endings to the complete infinitive:

Notice: The endings look like the imperfect of -er/-ir verbs (-ía, -ías, -ía…). All three groups share the same endings.

Irregular Conditional Stems

These are identical to the irregular future stems:

Uses of the Conditional

Hypothetical situations (would)

• Con más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. — With more money, I would travel the world.
• Yo no haría eso. — I wouldn't do that.

Polite requests (softened)

• ¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?
• ¿Me darías tu número? — Would you give me your number?
• Querría un café, por favor. — I would like a coffee, please.

Advice (should → debería)

• Deberías estudiar más. — You should study more.
• Yo que tú, no iría. — If I were you, I wouldn't go.

Speculation about the past

• Serían las tres cuando llegó. — It was probably three o'clock when he arrived.
• ¿Quién llamaría tan tarde? — Who could have called so late?

Reported speech (future in the past)

• Dijo que vendría. — He said he would come.
• Prometieron que lo harían. — They promised they would do it.

Conditional + Si (If Clauses)

The conditional pairs with the imperfect subjunctive in hypothetical "if" clauses:

• Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más. — If I had time, I would travel more.
• Si hablara español, conseguiría el trabajo. — If I spoke Spanish, I would get the job.

Pattern: Si + imperfect subjunctive, conditional. (Never si + conditional.)

Practice