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.

Future in the past - weird ?

Well, we have this tense also in English

Example: Last month he said he would go to Las Vegas the following week.

(he talked about a future actions – at the given time – that is already past she he had already gone to Las Vegas a week after.

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

Hacer – har…

Caber – cabr…

Querer – querr…

Saber – sabr…

Decir – dir…

Venir – vendr…

Poner – pondr…

Tener – tendr…

Salir – saldr…

Haber – habr…

Poder – podr…