Overview
The Perfect Conditional (Condicional Compuesto) is a Spanish verb tense used to express actions that would have happened under certain conditions but did not occur. It indicates hypothetical past events or actions that are dependent on some condition not met. It is often translated to English as "would have" + past participle.
Formation
The Perfect Conditional is formed using the conditional tense of the auxiliary verb haber followed by the past participle of the main verb. The structure is:
haber (conditional) + past participle
For example:
- habría comido (I would have eaten)
- habrías ido (you would have gone)
Usage
This tense is used to describe hypothetical situations in the past, such as regrets, unrealized possibilities, or assumptions about what might have happened but did not. It is commonly used in conditional sentences with si (if) clauses expressing unreal past conditions.
Example:
Si hubiera llegado a tiempo, habría visto la película.
(If I had arrived on time, I would have seen the movie.)
Conjugations
| Spanish Pronoun | Spanish Conjugation | English Conjugation | Spanish Example | English Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | habría + participio | I would have | Yo habría hablado con ella. | I would have spoken with her. |
| tú | habrías + participio | you would have | Tú habrías comido temprano. | You would have eaten early. |
| él / ella / ud. | habría + participio | he/she/you formal would have | Ella habría llegado antes. | She would have arrived earlier. |
| nosotros/as | habríamos + participio | we would have | Nosotros habríamos estudiado más. | We would have studied more. |
| vosotros/as | habríais + participio | you all would have | Vosotros habríais ido al concierto. | You all would have gone to the concert. |
| ellos/ellas/uds. | habrían + participio | they/you all would have | Ellos habrían terminado el trabajo. | They would have finished the work. |
Common Past Participles
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| hablar | hablado |
| comer | comido |
| vivir | vivido |
| hacer | hecho |
| decir | dicho |
| escribir | escrito |
| ver | visto |
| abrir | abierto |
Examples in Context
- Yo habría comprado la casa si tuviera dinero.
(I would have bought the house if I had money.)
- Ella habría salido antes si no hubiera llovido.
(She would have left earlier if it hadn’t rained.)
- Habríamos viajado más si hubiéramos tenido tiempo.
(We would have traveled more if we had had time.)
The Perfect Conditional is an important tense to express nuanced hypothetical past situations and is widely used to communicate regret, speculation, and unrealized possibilities in Spanish.
