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Conditional Sentences

CEFR C1 · Advanced

"If I had known…" — Spanish has three distinct ways to build a conditional sentence, and each one changes the shade of meaning.

The core idea

Spanish conditional ("si") sentences come in three types, depending on how real or how far in the past the condition is.

The three types
TypeSi clauseMain clause
1. Real / likelypresent indicativepresent / future
2. Hypotheticalimperfect subjunctiveconditional
3. Contrary-to-fact (past)pluperfect subjunctiveconditional perfect

Examples

Si llueve, me quedo en casa.If it rains, I stay home. — real, likely
Si fuera rico, compraría una casa en la playa.If I were rich, I'd buy a beach house. — hypothetical
Si hubiera sabido, te habría llamado.If I had known, I would have called you. — past regret
Building the forms

Imperfect subjunctive: take the ellos preterite, drop -ron, add -ra/-ras/-ra/-ramos/-rais/-ran. Hablaron → hablara.

Conditional: infinitive + -ía/-ías/-ía/-íamos/-íais/-ían. Viajar → viajaría.

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Type 3 shortcut: both clauses can use the pluperfect subjunctive interchangeably — Si hubiera sabido, te hubiera llamado works just as well as habría llamado. You'll hear both in real speech.

Practice

Check your understanding

1.Si ___ (tener) tiempo, iré al cine.

2.Si yo ___ (ser) tú, hablaría con ella.

3.Si ___ (estudiar) más, habría aprobado el examen.

4.Si tuviera más tiempo libre, ___ (aprender) a tocar el piano.

5.Si hubiéramos salido antes, no ___ (perder) el tren.

6.Choose the correct form: "Si ___ (poder), te ayudaría."

7.Si él me ___ (llamar) ayer, yo se lo habría explicado.

8.Choose the correct form: "Si hace sol mañana, ___ (ir) a la playa."

Ready to practice this out loud?

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