Transcript Conditional Tense - Regular and Irregular

The Conditional Tense
• The conditional tense can be thought of as
the “would” tense. Use the conditional to
describe things that “would” or “could” be:
I would call him, but I’m shy.
If I were rich, I would buy a Porsche.
Could I have a napkin, please?
I wouldn’t do that!
She could leave, if she had a ride.
Here are the correct endings for the
conditional tense. Notice that the endings
are the same for all three kinds of verbs!
Subject
-AR, -ER, &
-IR Verbs
Yo
Tú
Él, Ella, Usted
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes
-ía
- ías
-ía
- íamos
-íais
-ían
The conditional tense conjugates in the
same fashion as the future tense - don’t
remove the –AR, -ER, or –IR! Just add the
subject ending right onto the end of the
verb!
Here’s an an example of the conjugation process.
We’ll use the “yo” form for this example.
CANTARÍA
I would
TOSING
To
sing sing
Simply attach the
ending which matches
the subject. That’s it!
-ER and -IR verbs work the same way as -AR verbs.
COMERÍAS
You
would eat
Toeat
livee
To
VIVIRÍAN
They
would live
Tolive
livee
To
Just add the
correct ending.
Here’s a full conjugation chart for all 3 verb types.
Subject
Cantar
to sing
Comer
to eat
Vivir
to live
Yo Cantaría
I would sing
Comería
I would eat
Viviría
I would live
Tú Cantarías
You (inf) would sing
Comerías
You (inf) would eat
Vivirías
You (inf) would live
Él, Ella, Cantaría
Usted He/She would sing
You (for) would sing
Comería
He/She would eat
You (for) would eat
Viviría
He/She would live
You (for) would live
Comeríamos
We would eat
Viviríamos
We would live
Nosotros Cantaríamos
We would sing
Vosotros Cantaríais
Comeríais
You (in pl) would sing You (in pl) would eat
Ellos, Ellas, Cantarían
Ustedes They would sing
You (f pl) would sing
Comerían
They would eat
You (f pl) would eat
Viviríais
You (in pl) would live
Vivirían
They would live
You (f pl) would live
Now you try it! On a piece of paper, or in your
head, conjugate the following and then click
for the correct answer.
He would ask. (Preguntar)
Él preguntaría.
I would study. (Estudiar)
Yo estudiaría.
They would run. (Correr)
Ellos correrían.
You (inf) would write. (Escribir)
Tú escribirías.
Irregulars
Irregular
verbs
in
the
conditional tense have the
same stem as they do in
the
future
tense.
To
conjugate them, just add the
regular conditional tense
ending to these stems.
Remember, any verb which
contains one of these
irregular verbs will inherit its
stem in the conditional.
For example;
proponer = propondr-.
Verb
New stem
Salir
Saldr-
Tener
Tendr-
Poder
Podr-
Poner
Pondr-
Saber
Sabr-
Querer
Querr-
Venir
Vendr-
Hacer
Har-
Haber
Habr-
Decir
Dir-
Here are some examples as well as the other two
common irregular verbs in the future and the conditional;
Subject
Caber
Valer
To fit
To be worth, cost
Yo Cabría
I would fit
Valdría
I would be worth
Tú Cabrías
You (inf) would fit
Valdrías
You (inf) would be worth
Él, Ella, Cabría
Usted He/ She would fit
You (for) would fit
Valdría
He/She would be worth
You (for) would be worth
Nosotros Cabríamos
We would fit
Valdríamos
We would be worth
Vosotros Cabríais
You (inf pl) would fit
Valdríais
You (inf pl) would be worth
Ellos, Cabrían
Ellas, They would fit
Ustedes You (for pl) would fit
Valdrían
They would be worth
You (for pl) would be worth
Finally, note the following;
• Although the conditional tense is usually translated as “would”
it’s not the only tense that can mean would. When would is
used to refer to something that was habitual in the past, you
should use the imperfect past tense .
For example: We would always lose.
• Because the conditional can translate as “could”, this tense is
often used to make polite requests.
For example: Could I please borrow a pencil?
• There are no stem changers in the conditional tense.
• Estar, Ser, and Ir are regular in the conditional tense.
• Just as the future tense may be used to express probability in
the present, the conditional may be used to express it in the
past.
For example;
She’s probably at home (present) = Estará en casa. (future)
She was probably at home (past) = Estaría en casa. (cond.)
¡El Fin!