How to use the conditional tense in Spanish

To say “I would travel,” “Could you help me?” or “What would you do?” in Spanish, you'll usually need the conditional tense. The basic form follows a consistent pattern.

Want to practice right away? Start the condicional simple exercise.

What is the Spanish conditional tense?

The conditional tense often expresses what would happen in a certain situation.

• Viajaría más si tuviera tiempo. — I would travel more if I had time.
• Compraríamos la casa, pero es muy cara. — We would buy the house, but it is very expensive.
• ¿Qué harías tú? — What would you do?

In English, we normally use would + verb. In Spanish, the idea of “would” is built into the verb ending.

For example, hablar means “to speak.” Depending on the subject, hablaría can mean “I would speak,” formal singular “you would speak,” or “he/she would speak.”

Spanish calls this tense the condicional simple. You can review its forms in Espanido’s conditional tense guide.

How to form the conditional tense

To form the conditional, keep the whole infinitive and add a conditional ending. The infinitive is the basic form ending in -ar, -er, or -ir, such as hablar, comer, or vivir.

The formula is:

infinitive + conditional ending

Subject	Ending	Hablar	Comer	Vivir
yo	-ía	hablaría	comería	viviría
tú	-ías	hablarías	comerías	vivirías
él, ella, usted	-ía	hablaría	comería	viviría
nosotros/as	-íamos	hablaríamos	comeríamos	viviríamos
vosotros/as	-íais	hablaríais	comeríais	viviríais
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-ían	hablarían	comerían	vivirían

All three verb groups use the same endings. Don't remove -ar, -er, or -ir first.

• Yo hablaría con Ana. — I would speak with Ana.
• Tú comerías allí. — You would eat there.
• Ellos vivirían en Madrid. — They would live in Madrid.

Every conditional ending has a written accent on the í, so be sure to include it.

The main uses of the conditional

The Spanish conditional tense appears in several everyday situations. It does more than create sentences with si, meaning “if.”

Talking about hypothetical situations

Use the conditional to describe an imagined result or something that isn't currently real.

• Viviría cerca del mar. — I would live near the sea.
• Con más dinero, viajaríamos por Sudamérica. — With more money, we would travel around South America.
• Ella aceptaría el trabajo, pero está muy lejos. — She would accept the job, but it is very far away.

Imagine that Marta lives in a cold city but thinks about living near the beach. She might say:

Yo viviría en Málaga, tendría una bicicleta y nadaría cada mañana. — I would live in Málaga, have a bicycle, and swim every morning.

These are imagined plans rather than confirmed future events, so the conditional fits.

Saying what you would do

Questions with ¿Qué harías...? let you discuss choices and imagined problems.

• ¿Qué harías en mi lugar? — What would you do in my place?
• ¿Adónde irías de vacaciones? — Where would you go on vacation?
• ¿Con quién hablarías primero? — Who would you speak with first?

You can answer in the same tense:

Yo hablaría primero con mi jefe. — I would speak with my boss first.

Making polite requests

The conditional can make a request sound softer and more polite. This is especially common with poder, meaning “to be able to.”

• ¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?
• ¿Podría ver el menú? — Could I see the menu?
• ¿Podrían hablar más despacio? — Could you speak more slowly?

Compare ¿Puedes ayudarme? with ¿Podrías ayudarme? Both are correct, but the second often sounds gentler.

You'll also hear me gustaría, which literally means “it would please me” but is commonly translated as “I would like.”

• Me gustaría un café. — I would like a coffee.
• Nos gustaría reservar una habitación. — We would like to book a room.

Giving advice

The conditional form of deber, debería, is a common way to say “should.”

• Deberías descansar. — You should rest.
• Deberíamos salir temprano. — We should leave early.
• No deberías preocuparte tanto. — You should not worry so much.

For softer advice, you can use yo que tú, meaning “if I were you.”

Yo que tú, hablaría con la profesora. — If I were you, I would speak with the teacher.

Talking about the future from a past viewpoint

The conditional can describe an event that was still in the future at an earlier moment. This is often called the “future in the past.”

• Ana dijo que llegaría a las ocho. — Ana said that she would arrive at eight.
• Pensábamos que sería fácil. — We thought it would be easy.
• Me prometió que llamaría. — He or she promised me that they would call.

At the earlier moment, Ana’s arrival was still in the future. Because the main verb is in the past, Spanish uses the conditional for the later event.

Making a guess about the past

Spanish sometimes uses the conditional to make a careful guess about a past situation.

• Serían las diez cuando salió. — It was probably about ten when he left.
• Tendría unos treinta años. — He or she was probably around thirty years old.
• Habría mucha gente allí. — There were probably many people there.

This use doesn't translate directly as “would” in English. Instead, it suggests that the speaker is estimating rather than stating a fact.

Irregular conditional verbs

Some common verbs change their stem before taking the regular conditional endings. The endings themselves stay the same.

Infinitive	Irregular stem	Example
decir — to say	dir-	diría — I would say
hacer — to do or make	har-	haría — I would do
poder — to be able to	podr-	podría — I could
poner — to put	pondr-	pondría — I would put
querer — to want	querr-	querría — I would want
saber — to know	sabr-	sabría — I would know
salir — to leave	saldr-	saldría — I would leave
tener — to have	tendr-	tendría — I would have
venir — to come	vendr-	vendría — I would come

Many of these stems also appear in the Spanish future tense. Once you learn tendr-, for example, you can build both tendría and tendrá.

Rather than memorizing an isolated list, learn the irregular verbs in short sentences:

• No sabría qué decir. — I would not know what to say.
• Vendríamos mañana. — We would come tomorrow.
• ¿Podrías cerrar la puerta? — Could you close the door?

How the conditional works with si

A common pattern for unreal or unlikely situations is:

si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional

Here, the imperfect subjunctive presents an imagined condition.

• Si tuviera tiempo, aprendería italiano. — If I had time, I would learn Italian.
• Si viviéramos cerca, nos veríamos más. — If we lived nearby, we would see each other more.
• Si fueras presidente, ¿qué cambiarías? — If you were president, what would you change?

The si clause gives the imagined condition, while the conditional gives the result.

The conditional doesn't normally go directly after si in this pattern. Avoid sentences such as si tendría tiempo. Say si tuviera tiempo instead.

To practice both halves of this structure, try Espanido’s Spanish conditional sentence exercises.

Common mistakes to avoid

Removing the infinitive ending

Don't treat the conditional like the present tense. Keep the full infinitive.

• Use this method: hablar + ía = hablaría
• Don't build it by treating habl- as the conditional stem, even though it produces the same written form in this example.

Remembering the full-infinitive rule also helps with forms such as comería and viviríamos.

Forgetting the accent

The conditional endings always contain an accented í.

• Incorrect: podria
• Correct: podría — I could or he/she could

Using the conditional after si

For an unreal present situation, don't say si tendría. Use the imperfect subjunctive after si.

• Incorrect: Si tendría dinero, viajaría.
• Correct: Si tuviera dinero, viajaría. — If I had money, I would travel.

Confusing would with used to

English “would” can describe repeated past actions, but Spanish usually uses the imperfect tense for that meaning.

• Cuando era niño, jugaba en el parque cada día. — When I was a child, I would play in the park every day.

Here, jugaba describes a past habit. By contrast, jugaría would suggest an imagined action.

A quick way to choose the conditional

Choose the tense based on the sentence's meaning.

Meaning	Useful Spanish form
An imagined result	Viajaría. — I would travel.
A polite request	¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?
Advice	Deberías estudiar. — You should study.
Future viewed from the past	Dijo que vendría. — He said he would come.
A repeated past habit	Viajaba cada verano. — I would travel every summer.

Focusing on meaning helps you avoid translating every English word separately.

Practice the conditional tense

Start with regular verbs, then add common irregular verbs such as hacer, poder, tener, and decir.

You can test these forms with Espanido’s conditional tense practice exercises. The questions help you check whether you need the full infinitive or an irregular stem.

You can also write answers to these prompts:

1. ¿Qué harías con un mes libre? — What would you do with a free month?
2. ¿Dónde vivirías si pudieras elegir cualquier lugar? — Where would you live if you could choose any place?
3. ¿Qué consejo le darías a un estudiante nuevo? — What advice would you give a new student?

Write two or three sentences for each answer, using verbs that relate to your own life.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Spanish conditional difficult?

The basic pattern is consistent because -ar, -er, and -ir verbs all use the same endings. You'll also need to learn the irregular stems used by some common verbs.

Does the conditional always mean would?

Not always. Depending on the verb and context, it can also express “could,” “should,” polite wishes, or a guess about the past.

Can I use the conditional after si?

Not normally in unreal patterns such as “If I had time, I would go.” Spanish uses the imperfect subjunctive after si: Si tuviera tiempo, iría.

What is the difference between podría and pude?

Podría means “I could” in a polite, possible, or imagined sense. Pude means “I managed to” or “I was able to” in a completed past situation.

How can I remember the endings?

Say the sequence aloud: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Then apply it to several verbs without removing their infinitive endings.

The key idea to remember

For most verbs, form the Spanish conditional by keeping the infinitive and adding the correct ending. Use it for imagined results, polite requests, advice, the future viewed from the past, and careful guesses.

Learn the regular pattern, add common irregular stems, and practice with short sentences you might use.