1. Alphabet & Pronunciation
1.1. Syllable Stress
2. Similarities to English
2.1. Plural
2.2. Negation
2.3. Punctuation & Written Accents
3. Cardinal Numbers
4. Subject Personal Pronouns
5. Present Indicative Tense I
6. The Articles
7. Prepositions
8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives
9. Basic Phrases
1. Gender of Nouns & Adjectives
2. Present Indicative Tense II – Irregular Verbs
3. The Verb “To Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar”
4. Future Tense
5. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns
6. Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns
7. Object Personal Pronouns
7.1. Combining Direct & Indirect Object Personal Pronouns
8. Relative Pronouns
9. Ordinal Numbers I
10. Times & Seasons
1. Verbs Like “Gustar”
2. “Por” vs. “Para”
3. The Verb “To Know”: “Saber” vs. “Conocer”
4. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns
5. Present Progressive Tense
6. Present Perfect Tense
7. Special Uses of “Haber” & “Tener”
8. Telling Time & Describing Weather
9. Adverbs
9.1. The Adverbs “Tan,” “Solo,” “También,” “Tampoco,” “Vez,” & “Veces”
9.2. Other Adverbs & Adverbial Phrases
10. Directions
1. Degrees of Comparison: Comparatives & Superlatives
2. Past Tense: Preterite vs. Imperfect
3. Conjunctions
4. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs
5. The Verb “Soler”
6. Time Expressions: Todavía, Aún, Ya, Hace, Acabar, & Desde
7. Present Subjunctive Tense I
8. Personal “a”
9. Future Perfect Tense
1. Irregular Verbs in The Preterite
2. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands
3. Expressions of Pain & Illness
4. Simple Conditional Tense
5. Present Subjunctive Tense II
6. Perfect Subjunctive Tense
7. Imperfect Subjunctive Tense
8. Past & Conditional Progressive Tenses
9. Interjections
1. Ordinal Numbers II
2. “Would/Should/Could Have …”
3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense
4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense
5. Use of “Aunque,” “Si Bien,” and “A Pesar de”
6. Verbs of Change
7. Reflexive Passive, Impersonal, & Accidental “Se”
8. Diminutives & Augmentatives
9. Use of “Vos” in Some Spanish-Speaking Countries
10. Uses of “Ojalá” in Spanish
The simple conditional tense in Spanish is used to describe a hypothetical situation, express wishes, give advice, or make a polite request. It is similar in its use to the simple conditional tense in English, e.g., “I would do the laundry if I had time.”
Conjugation
The regular verb conjugation is the same for all verb endings and is formed by adding the conjugation ending to the infinitive rather than to the stem.
| -ar ending hablar | -er ending comer | -ir ending vivir | |
| yo | hablaría | comería | viviría |
| tú | hablarías | comerías | vivirías |
| él/ella/usted | hablaría | comería | viviría |
| nosotros/-as | hablaríamos | comeríamos | viviríamos |
| vosotros/-as | hablaríais | comeríais | viviríais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hablarían | comerían | vivirían |
Irregular Verbs in the Simple Conditional Tense
There are a few irregular verbs in the simple conditional tense; twelve are commonly used and will be discussed here.
1. Some verbs ending in “-er” and “-ir” drop the “e” or “i” from the infinitive ending and replace it with a “d.” There are five common verbs in this category: “tener” (to have), “poner” (to put), “valer” (to valueor to be worth), “venir” (to come), and “salir” (to go outor to exit).
| tener tendr- | poner pondr- | venir vendr- | salir sladr- | |
| yo | tendría | pondría | vendría | saldría |
| tú | tendrías | pondrías | vendrías | saldrías |
| él/ella/usted | tendría | pondría | vendría | saldría |
| nosotros/-as | tendríamos | pondríamos | vendríamos | saldríamos |
| vosotros/-as | tendríais | pondríais | vendríais | saldríais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | tendrían | pondrían | vendrían | saldrían |
2. Some verbs ending in “-er” simply drop the “e” from the infinitive ending. There are also five common verbs in this category: “saber” (to know), “poder” (can), “caber” (to fit), “querer” (to want), and “haber,” which is an auxiliary verb equivalent to the English auxiliary verb “have.”
| saber sabr- | poder podr- | querer querr- | haber habr- | |
| yo | sabría | podría | querría | habría |
| tú | sabrías | podrías | querrías | habrías |
| él/ella/usted | sabría | podría | querría | habría |
| nosotros/-as | sabríamos | podríamos | querríamos | habríamos |
| vosotros/-as | sabríais | podríais | querríais | habríais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | sabrían | podrían | querrían | habrían |
3. The verbs “decir” (to say) and “hacer” (to do) change their stem to “dir-” and “har-” to form the simple conditional tense conjugation. These two verbs are irregular and must be memorized.
| decir dir- | hacer har- | |
| yo | diría | haría |
| tú | dirías | harías |
| él/ella/usted | diría | haría |
| nosotros/-as | diríamos | haríamos |
| vosotros/-as | diríais | haríais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | dirían | harían |
Examples
Below are some examples in Spanish that use the simple conditional tense.
| Viajaría cada año si tuviera dinero. | I would travel every year if I had money. |
| Si yo fuera tú, no iría al gimnasio hoy. | If I were you, I wouldn’t go to the gym today. |
| Si tuviera mucho dinero, compraría un palacio. | If I had a lot of money, I would buy a palace. |
| Podrías estudiar más horas para el examen. | You could study more hours for the exam. |
| ¿Podrías pasarme la pimienta? | Could you pass me the pepper? |
| ¿Viviríamos en una ciudad pequeña? | Would we live in a small city? |
| Dormirían todo el día si no tuvieran trabajo. | They would sleep all day if they didn’t have work. |
| Diría la verdad si me preguntaran. | I would tell the truth if they asked me. |
Quiz: Conditional Tenses in Spanish
Next: Present Subjunctive Tense II
Other lessons in Level V:








