The Conditional Tense - Explanation

# F. J. Villatoro #

The Conditional Tense - Explanation

The conditional tense in English is translated as "I would speak", etc .


To form this tense, you take the future stem and add the -er / -ir imperfect endings.


HABLAR COMER VIVIR
hablaría comería viviría
hablarías comerías vivirías
hablaría comería viviría
hablariamos comeríamos viviríamos
hablaríais comeríais viviríais
hablarían comerían vivirían

The three above are regular verbs. Remember a number of Spanish verbs have irregular future stems.

The endings are still the same as regular verbs - only the stem changes. Here is a list of the most common ones:


INFINITIVE TRANSLATION STEM
caber to fit cabr-
decir to say dir-
haber (auxiliary verb) to have habr-
hacer to do // make har-
poder to be able to podr-
poner to put pondr-
querer to want querr-
saber to know sabr-
salir to leave / go out saldr-
tener to have tendr-
valer to be worth valdr-
venir to come vendr-