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El Condicional

CEFR B1 · Lesson 5 of 9

The tense that makes you sound polite instead of demanding — and lets you talk about what you would do, if only.

The core idea

The condicional is built exactly like the future: take the whole infinitive and add an ending. The endings happen to be the same as the imperfecto of -er/-ir verbs.

Infinitive + ending
SubjectEndinghablarcomervivir
yo-íahablaríacomeríaviviría
tú-íashablaríascomeríasvivirías
él / ella / usted-íahablaríacomeríaviviría
nosotros-íamoshablaríamoscomeríamosviviríamos
vosotros-íaishablaríaiscomeríaisviviríais
ellos / ellas / ustedes-íanhablaríancomeríanvivirían
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Good news: the irregular stems are identical to the future ones — tendr-, pondr-, saldr-, vendr-, podr-, sabr-, habr-, querr-, har-, dir-, cabr-, valdr-. Learn them once, use them in two tenses: tendré / tendría, haré / haría.

What it's actually for

1. Politeness. This is the everyday use, and the one that changes how people treat you. Swapping the present for the conditional turns an order into a request.

¿Podrías ayudarme, por favor?Could you help me, please? — vs. the blunt ¿Puedes ayudarme?
Me gustaría reservar una mesa.I'd like to book a table.
¿Te importaría abrir la ventana?Would you mind opening the window?

2. Advice. Especially with deber and the formula yo que tú…

Deberías descansar más.You should rest more.
Yo que tú, hablaría con ella.If I were you, I'd talk to her.

3. Hypotheticals. What you would do in an imaginary situation.

Con más dinero, viajaría por todo el mundo.With more money, I'd travel all over the world.
En tu lugar, no diría nada.In your place, I wouldn't say anything.

4. Guessing about the past. The mirror image of the future of probability: where the future guesses about the present, the conditional guesses about the past.

Serían las tres cuando llegó.It must have been around three when he arrived.
Tendría unos veinte años entonces.He was probably about twenty back then.
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What's coming next: you'll often hear the conditional paired with si — Si tuviera dinero, viajaría. That second half is already yours; the si tuviera half needs the past subjunctive, which is the heart of the C1 lesson on conditional sentences.

Practice

Check your understanding

1.¿___ (poder, tú) ayudarme, por favor?

2.Me ___ (gustar) reservar una mesa para dos.

3.The conditional's irregular stems are:

4.___ (deber, tú) descansar más.

5.Yo que tú, ___ (hablar) con ella.

6.Con más dinero, ___ (viajar, yo) por todo el mundo.

7.What does "Serían las tres cuando llegó" mean?

8.Nosotros ___ (hacer) lo mismo en tu situación.

9.Which request sounds more polite?

10.Ellos ___ (decir) la verdad si pudieran.

11.True or false: the conditional endings are the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs.

12.En tu lugar, yo no ___ (decir) nada.

← Previous lesson Futuro Simple Next lesson → El Imperativo

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Book a class with Ángel and practise asking for things the polite way — it changes how native speakers respond to you.

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