If you would just read this article, you would understand how to identify and use the conditional tense. That sentence is an example of the conditional tense being used in English. So what is it?
The conditional tense is used to show what would happen in a certain situation, in this case, what you WOULD understand if you WOULD read this article.
In this article we’ll take a look at the 20 most common verbs in Spanish conjugated for the conditional tense, we’ll talk about how to use them, and what the rules are, and I’ll provide a ton of example sentences so that you can start to acquire them.
¿Listo/a? (Ready?
Vamos (Let’s go)
What Is The Conditional Tense In Spanish?
The conditional tense is used to talk about events that could happen in the future under certain circumstances. It’s like the Spanish equivalent of the word “would” - for example: “I would go to the park if it doesn’t rain”
How Do You Use The Conditional Tense?
The conditional tense is extremely simple, just add one of the following endings to the verb in its infinite form - Check it out:
Subject | Conditional Tense Ending |
Yo (I) | ÍA |
Tú (You) | ÍAS |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | ÍA |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | ÍAN |
Nosotros/as (We) | ÍAMOS |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | ÍAIS |
Example - Yo viajaría
Exception To The “Simple Rule”
Whenever we’re talking about some irregular verbs, things switch up a bit. The same endings apply, however, it’s common that the base word changes a bit. Take a look:
Hacer (Irregular Verb) = Haría
Sometimes you’ll see the E or I get swapped out for a D
Salir – Saldría
Yo saldría a las 6, pero hoy tengo que trabajar hasta las 9
(I would go at 6, but I have to work until 9)
Poner – Pondría
Yo lo pondría por allí en la pared
(I would put it over there on the wall)
Valer – Valdría
Ee, no valdría la pena
(Eh, it wouldn’t be worth it)
Venir – Vendría
Yo vendría a las 8 si pudiera
(I would come at 8 if I could)
Tener – Tendría
Yo tendría 6 hijos, pero mi esposo solo quiere 3
(I would have 6 kids, but my husband only wants 3)
ADDITIONAL TIP FOR THE SPANISH CONDITIONAL TENSE
Whenever you use the conditional tense, you most commonly pair it with the Past Subjunctive Tense. For example:
Yo iría a los estados unidos si tuviera bastante dinero
(I would go to the USA if I had enough money)
20 Most Common Verbs In The Conditional Tense
Ser — to be
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Sería |
Tú (You) | Serías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Sería |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Serían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Seríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Seríais |
Estar — to be, to be situated
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Estaría |
Tú (You) | Estarías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Estaría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Estarían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Estaríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Estaríais |
Tener — to have
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Tendría |
Tú (You) | Tendrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Tendría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Tendrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Tendríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Tendríais |
Hacer — to do, to make
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Haría |
Tú (You) | Harías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Haría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Harían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Haríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Haríais |
Ir — to go
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Iría |
Tú (You) | Irías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Iría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Irían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Iríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Iríais |
Poder — to be able to, can
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Podría |
Tú (You) | Podrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Podría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Podrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Podríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Podríais |
Saber — to know, can
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Sabría |
Tú (You) | Sabrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Sabría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Sabrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Sabríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Sabríais |
Poner — to put
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Pondría |
Tú (You) | Pondrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Podría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Podrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Podríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Podríais |
Haber — to have, to be
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Habría |
Tú (You) | Habrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Habría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Habrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Habríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Habríais |
Decir — to say, to tell
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Diría |
Tú (You) | Dirías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Diría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Dirían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Diríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Diríais |
Querer — to want
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Querría |
Tú (You) | Querrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Querría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Querrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Querríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Querríais |
Hablar — to speak
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Hablaría |
Tú (You) | Hablarías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Hablaría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Hablarían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Hablaríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Hablaríais |
Dar — to give
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Daría |
Tú (You) | Darías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Daría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Darían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Daríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Daríais |
Ver — to see, to watch
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Vería |
Tú (You) | Verías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Vería |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Verían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Veríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Veríais |
Comer — to eat
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Comería |
Tú (You) | Comerías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Comería |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Comerían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Comeríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Comeríais |
Tomar — to take, to have
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Tomaría |
Tú (You) | Tomarías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Tomaría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Tomarían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Tomaríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Tomaríais |
Vivir — to live
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Viviría |
Tú (You) | Vivirías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Viviría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Vivirían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Viviríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Viviríais |
Necesitar — to need
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Necesitaría |
Tú (You) | Necesitarías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Necesitaría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Necesitarían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Necesitaríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Necesitaríais |
Quedar — to stay, to meet
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Quedaría |
Tú (You) | Quedarías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Quedaría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Quedarían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Quedaríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Quedaríais |
Venir — to come
Subject | Verb In The Conditional Tense |
Yo (I) | Vendría |
Tú (You) | Vendrías |
Él/Ella/Usted (He/She/You-Formal) | Vendría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes (Them/You-Plural) | Vendrían |
Nosotros/as (We) | Vendríamos |
Vosotros/as (You-Plural | SPAIN) | Vendríais |
Example Sentences In Spanish Using The Conditional Tense
In this example section, I’ll color the verb in the conditional tense with blue and the verb in the subjunctive tense with orange.
Spanish Sentence | English Translation |
Yo sería feliz si tuviera un perro | I would be happy if I had a dog |
Yo estaría en México si eso no hubiera pasado | I would be in mexico if that wouldn’t have happened |
Ella tendría más dinero si hubiera trabajado | She would have more money if she would have worked |
Harías más trabajo en ese puesto | You would do more work in that position |
Iríamos a México si tuviéramos el dinero | We would go to Mexico if we had the money |
Ella podría cambiar el mundo | She could change the world |
No sabrías qué hacer en esa situación | You wouldn’t know what to do in that situation |
Yo lo pondría por allí en la pared | I would put it over there on the wall |
¿Qué habrías hecho? | What would you have done? |
Yo diría que sí tiene sentido | I would say that it does make sense |
¿Qué querrías hacer entonces? | What would you want to do then? |
Ella hablaría contigo, pero está ocupada | She would talk with you, but she’s busy |
Daríamos un mil pesos para eso | We would give a thousand pesos for that |
Ustedes verían la potencial que tiene | You all would see the potential that he has |
Yo comería huevos, pero solo tengo uno | I would eat eggs, but I only have one |
Ella tomaría una cerveza, pero está enferma | She would drink a beer, but she’s sick |
Yo viviría en Francia si tuviera bastante dinero | I would live in France if I had enough money |
Si quieres ir, necesitarías comprar un boleto | If you want to go, you would need to buy a ticket |
Me quedaría en casa, pero tengo que trabajar | I would stay at home, but I have to work |
Ella vendría a tu casa, pero está en el hospital | She would come to your house, but she’s in the hospital |
Conclusion: The Conditional Tense In Spanish
To summarize and conclude, the conditional tense is used to talk about actions that would be carried out in a certain situation.
For example “I would eat before work, but I don’t have time.” Whenever we use the word “If” (Si) with the conditional tense, we generally follow it up with a verb in the subjunctive form.
For example “Yo sería feliz si tuviera un perro” or “I would be happy if I had a dog.” The way that we can tell that a verb is in the conditional tense, is by seeing “ÍA” being put at the end of a verb.
If you want to fully understand how to use this tense, check out the Subjunctive Tense Tutorial because this tense goes hand and hand with the conditional.
I hope this helped you out, let me know in the comment section if you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns. Hasta luego,
~ Ben