Conditional Spanish Verb Conjugation

Now, we’ll learn how to use the conditional tense in Spanish. Like with other verbs, we also have a nickname for it. It is called the “would” tense. We call it that because it’s just like putting the word “would” in front of any verb. For example. “I would eat”, “She would run”, “He would talk” and so forth. This tense is very easy to learn. Like the future tense, it has the same verb endings for AR ER and IR verbs.

Let’s take a look at the endings now.

Let’s review those again.

ía - ías - ía - íamos - íais - ían

Now, just like the future tense is that you don’t take off an ending, you just put it on right after the verb. You simply put this ending on after the AR, ER or IR verbs. Now, you may have noticed something familiar about these endings. They are exactly like the endings of the “Back” or “Imperfect” verbs. The only difference is that these endings always come after the “r” at the end of each verb. So, just like present tense, we’re going to add an “r” to our conjugation chart to help you remember that the endings always come after the “r”.

Let’s see how it works starting with “yo”:

I would speak is “Hablaría”
I would eat is “Comería”
I would live is “Viviría”

If we use María or “tú”:

You would speak is “Hablarías”
You would eat is “Comerías”
You would live is “Vivirías”

Now let’s practice the future tense for he, she or you formal (remember, this is if you’d use a title with someone like “Dr.” or “Mrs.”):

He would speak is “Hablaría”
She would eat is “Comería”
Mrs. Garcia, you would live is “Viviría”

Next we’ll look at the future tense for nosotros:

We would speak is “Hablaríamos”
We would eat is “Comeríamos”
We would live is “Viviríamos”

Now we’ll jump to the future tense for “they” (ellos, ellas) and “you plural” or Uds.:

They would speak is “Hablarían”
They would eat is “Comerían”
All of you would live is “Vivirían”

Now take a look at the “Conditional” or “Would” endings one more time.

ría - rías - ría - ríamos - ríais - rían

Now let’s try these using the chart on the screen and the verb “llevar” which means “to carry”.

Now, since repetition is so important, let’s repeat the endings again.

ría - rías - ría - ríamos - ríais - rían

Now we’ll practice with a few different verbs. Are you ready?

Review