The simple conditional presents an action as future from a point in the past. The action does not occur at the moment of speaking; it remains in an imagined, anticipated, or pending zone within a past narrative. That is why it appears often in news, narratives, and thoughts referring to the past: Dijo que volvería mañana. From that past moment, volvería indicates something that was still to come. It also serves to project a consequence that depended on another situation: Pensé que llovería por la tarde. The central value is this look ahead, but situated outside the present.

The regular conditional is formed with the complete infinitive + the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Nothing is removed from the infinitive: hablar + -ía gives hablaría; comer + -ías gives comerías; vivir + -ía gives viviría. The complete base remains the same for all regular verbs. The endings are the same as in Verb tense conjugations, because this tense shares the same group of persons and the same order of personal forms. Thus all the persons are: yo hablaría, tú hablarías, él hablaría, nosotros hablaríamos, vosotros hablaríais, ellos hablarían. In regular verbs, the marker of the conditional always appears at the end of the infinitive.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
vosotros	descubrir
tú	comer
él	vivir
nosotros	trabajar
ellos	bailar
yo	cantar

Regular formation of the conditional

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	cantar	cantaría
tú	comer	comerías
él	vivir	viviría
nosotros	trabajar	trabajaríamos
vosotros	descubrir	descubriríais
ellos	bailar	bailarían

Scramble

The conditional softens requests, suggestions, and wishes. Instead of sounding direct, it leaves room for the other person and reduces the force of the sentence. That is why it is common in questions and offers such as ¿Podrías ayudarme?, Me gustaría un café and Yo iría por la calle tranquila. In a request, the speaker does not order; they propose. In a suggestion, they do not impose; they invite. In a wish, they do not state an immediate need; they express a preference delicately. The verb can stand alone or be accompanied by expressions such as por favor, si puedes and me gustaría que + subjuntivo when a subordinate clause appears.

Conditional for speaking politely

Usage	Explanation
Polite request	We use the conditional to make a request softer and more polite.
Gentle suggestion	We use the conditional to give an idea without sounding forceful.
Polite wish	We use the conditional to express a wish with tact and delicacy.

The conditional also expresses an assumption about something that is not known with certainty. The speaker deduces or imagines a possibility based on signs, rumors, or logic. In the present, it usually indicates a conjecture: Serían las ocho cuando llegó; Estaría en casa, porque no contesta. In the past, it can refer to a hypothetical explanation: Habría salido temprano; No vendría porque estaba enfermo. Here the conditional does not mark future time, but rather distance from certainty. The sentence presents the idea as probable, not confirmed.

Conditional for supposing or calculating

Usage	Explanation
Present supposition	We use the conditional to state a conjecture about the present when we are not sure.
Past supposition	We use the conditional to imagine a probable cause in the past.
Approximate calculation	We use the conditional to give an estimate that is not exact.

In sentences with si, the conditional appears in the consequence of a hypothetical situation. The usual structure is si + imperfecto de subjuntivo + condicional simple: Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más. The part with si presents an imagined condition; the conditional names the result that would depend on that condition. It is also used for less real consequences in narratives and comments: Si estudiaras hoy, aprobarías mañana. The relationship between the two parts is clear: a possible or unreal situation in si and a consequence in the conditional. For the complete combination with less probable scenarios or scenarios contrary to reality, the explanation of Expressing hypotheses and politeness together with Conditional with si is also useful.

Conditional in sentences with if

Idea
In a sentence with if and a hypothetical condition, the consequence usually goes in the simple conditional.
The part with if presents the condition, and the other part presents the imagined result.
We do not use the conditional in both parts when we are talking about a normal hypothesis.

When the condition is contrary to reality, the simple conditional appears with the imperfect subjunctive. The form expresses something that does not happen now or that did not happen before, but that is imagined as another possibility. The structure is si + imperfecto de subjuntivo + condicional simple: Si fuera rico, compraría una casa; Si me hubieras avisado, habría ido, although here another, more advanced past form already comes in. In the simple conditional, the focus is on the imagined consequence: compraría una casa, viviríamos cerca del mar. The imperfect subjunctive places the condition far from reality; the conditional presents the result of that alternative reality. The relationship between both forms is the basis of many hypotheses in Spanish.

Conditional with imperfect subjunctive

Idea
To talk about an unreal situation, we use if with the imperfect subjunctive and the consequence in the simple conditional.
This combination serves to express something contrary to current reality.
We also use it to imagine a condition very unlikely.

Some verbs add -dría to a special stem. The most common are tener, venir and salir. Their forms are tendría, tendrías, tendría, tendríamos, tendríais, tendrían; vendría, vendrías, vendría, vendríamos, vendríais, vendrían; saldría, saldrías, saldría, saldríamos, saldríais, saldrían. The change is not in the endings, but in the stem. Instead of ten-, ven- and sal-, tendr-, vendr- and saldr- appear. These forms are recognized because they retain -dría in all persons and do not follow the regular model of infinitive + ending.

Verb	Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
	tú	tener
	él	salir
	yo	venir
	ellos	salir
	yo	tener
	nosotros	venir

Common irregulars in the conditional

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	tener	tendría
tú	tener	tendrías
yo	venir	vendría
nosotros	venir	vendríamos
ellos	salir	saldrían
él	salir	saldría

Scramble

Other verbs change their stem before adding the conditional endings. Poder gives podría, podrías, podría, podríamos, podríais, podrían; poner gives pondría, pondrías, pondría, pondríamos, pondríais, pondrían; saber gives sabría, sabrías, sabría, sabríamos, sabríais, sabrían; hacer gives haría, harías, haría, haríamos, haríais, harían. The key is that the stem does not match the complete infinitive. In hacer, the c disappears and har- appears. In saber, the base form changes to sabr-. In poder and poner, -dr- is added to the stem. These irregularities are memorized as complete blocks, because the ending remains the same as in regular verbs.

Verb	Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
	yo	poder
	tú	poner
	ellos	hacer
	nosotros	saber

Other irregular stems in the conditional

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
yo	poder	podría
tú	poner	pondrías
nosotros	saber	sabríamos
ellos	hacer	harían

Scramble

The conditional and the future share a similar form, but they do not express the same thing. The simple future places the action as forthcoming from the present: Mañana llegaré temprano. The conditional places the action as future from a past point or as an imagined consequence: Dijo que llegaría temprano; Yo viajaría si tuviera dinero. In form, the future uses the same endings as the conditional, but with a different base: hablaré, hablarás, hablará, hablaremos, hablaréis, hablarán versus hablaría, hablarías, hablaría, hablaríamos, hablaríais, hablarían. In several irregular verbs, the stem also changes differently: tendré versus tendría, haré versus haría. The sentence and context make it possible to distinguish whether the action is presented as a promise or prediction, or as a hypothesis and temporal distance.

Conditional versus future

Usage	Explanation
Hypothesis	We use the conditional for an action imagined or dependent on a condition.
Prediction	We use the future for an action more certain or expected.
Temporal distance	The conditional usually views the action from a past or hypothetical point.

The conditional and the imperfect may seem similar, but they fulfill different functions. The imperfect describes habits, background scenes, and past situations: Cuando era niño, jugaba en la plaza; La casa tenía un jardín grande. The conditional does not describe a habit; it presents a possible consequence, a conjecture, or a polite form: Yo iría contigo; Sería tarde cuando llegó; Quería pedirte un favor. In a narrative, the imperfect paints the context and the conditional advances a dependent or imagined idea. If the sentence talks about what happened frequently or what something was like in the past, use the imperfect. If it talks about what would have happened, could happen, or is requested gently, use the conditional.

Conditional versus imperfect

Idea
The conditional expresses consequence, desire, or politeness.
The imperfect expresses past habits or situations.
We do not use the conditional to describe a past habit.