5 Ways To Use the Conditional Tense in Spanish

The conditional tense in Spanish is used whenever you want to talk about what you would, should or could do. There are several bonuses about this tense;

• It is easy to form and all 3 sets of verbs -ar, -er and -ir verbs have the same endings!
• There is only a few irregular verbs to learn which are exactly the same ones as the future tense. So if you have already learnt the future tense, the conditional will be a doddle!

How to form the conditional tense in Spanish

It is very simple to conjugate the conditional tense verbs. It is formed in the same way as the future tense. You just use the full infinitive, (unlike present and past tenses when you take the ending off) and then you add the following endings:

to: -ía
tú: -ías
él/ella: -ía
nosotros/as: –íamos
vosotros/as: -íais
ellos/as: -ían

There is a small number of irregular verbs to remember, which are exactly the same ones as in the future tense. Instead of using the full infiinitve, you use a shortened version plus the regular endings:

(to fit): caber: cabr-
(to say/tell): decir: dir-
(to make/do): hacer: har-
(to be able): poder: podr-
(to put): poner: pondr-
(to want): querer: querr-
(to know): saber: sabr-
(to leave): salir: saldr-
(to have): tener: tendr-
(to come): venir: vendr-

So here are some examples:

Haría todo lo posible – She would do everything possible

¿Dónde lo pondrías? – Where would you put it?

No dirían la verdad – They wouldn’t tell the truth

¿Podrías encontrarlo? – Would you be able to find it?

Uses of the conditional tense

1) To talk about what you would like:

Whenever you want to talk about what you would like or what you would wish to happen in the future, you would use the conditional tense:

Me gustaría tener un coche nuevo – I would like to have a new car.
¿Te gustaría venir a la fiesta el sábado? – Would you like to come to the party on Saturday?
Desearía una casa grande – I would like a big house.
Querríamos ir a Australia – We would like to go to Australia.

2) To make guesses

To make guesses about things that happened in the past you could use the conditional. Let’s look at some examples:

¿Por qué llegaron tan tarde? – Why did they arrive so late?
No sé, a lo mejor habría mucho tráfico – I don’t know perhaps there would have been a lot of traffic.
¿Sabes dónde fueron los niños ayer? – Do you know where the children went yesterday?
Quizás irían a la playa. – They may have gone to the beach.

3) To give advice

To offer your opinion to someone and tell them what you would do in a situation you would use the conditional tense:

Yo en tu lugar, buscaría otro trabajo. – If I were you, I would look for another job.
Yo que tú, comería menos chocolate – If I were you, I would eat less chocolate.

You can also use the verbs: deber and poder to give advice:

Deberías limpiar la casa – You should clean the house.
Podrías buscar otro trabajo por internet – You could look for another job on the internet.

4) To be polite

The conditional tense is also used to ask for things politely in Spanish. This is normally used in the usted form to be more formal:

¿Me podría decir dónde está la estación? – Could you tell me where the station is?
¿Me daría un plano del metro por favor? – Would you give me a map of the metro please?
¿Tendría la carta de postres por favor? – Would you have the dessert menu please?

5) To talk about hypothetical situations

This structure is a bit more advanced for English speakers. Whenever you want to talk about something that may happen and then what you would do, you need the conditional tense along with a subjunctive. Here are some examples:

Si tuviera más tiempo, haría más ejercicio.
If I had more time, I would do more exercise.

Si ganara la lotería, compraría una casa en España.
If I won the lottery, I would buy a house in Spain.

Conclusion

The conditional tense in Spanish is a really useful one to know. It is easy to form it and learn the conjugations, but you also need to be aware of the irregular verbs which are the same ones as in the future tense.

The key is knowing when to use the conditional. The best way to learn it is to make up some of your own sentences and then try to check if they are correct with a native Spanish speaker or via an online translator.