Severn Spanish

Conditional tense III

 

Introduction

This is a tense many people do not consider in English. It comes quite easily to us — “I would write that essay, but I don’t have time.” In English, as you might have noticed, it is a compound tense, much like the future. In Spanish, however, it is a simple tense.

 

Formation

The future and conditional tenses are often lumped together, and with good reason. Their conjugation patterns are very similar. In both cases, you start with the whole infinitive—no need to drop the infinitive ending. The conjugations are added directly to the end of the verb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Irregulars

Conveniently, the same verbs that are irregular in the future are irregular in the conditional, and they have exactly the same spelling changes:

• tener: tendría, tendrías, tendría, tendríamos, tendríais, tendrían

• querer: querría, querrías, querría, querríamos, querríais, querrían

• poner: pondría, pondrías, pondría, pondríamos, pondríais, pondrían

• hacer: haría, harías, haría, haríamos, haríais, harían

• poder: podría, podrías, podría, podríamos, podríais, podrían

• haber: habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían

These are all good to know, but to prepare for a study of the conditional perfect, be very comfortable with haber.

 

Usage

The conditional is used in Spanish just as it is in English.

Examples:

Yo escribiría este ensayo, pero no tengo bastante tiempo. (I would write this essay, but I don’t have enough time.)

El hombre iría a Italia, pero no tiene el dinero. (The man would go to Italy, but he does not have the money.)

El pollo estaría fantástico, pero está seca. (The chicken would be fantastic, but it is dry.)