The Spanish conditional translates roughly as "would + verb" in English. It is one of the easiest tenses to form because, like the future, it is built directly on the full infinitive.
Formation
To conjugate a regular verb in the conditional, take the complete infinitive and attach the conditional endings. No letters are dropped, and the same endings work for all three conjugation classes (-ar, -er, -ir).
| Subject | Ending |
|---|---|
| yo | -ía |
| tú | -ías |
| él / ella / usted | -ía |
| nosotros | -íamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ían |
Notice that every ending carries a written accent on the í. This accent is never optional — it distinguishes the conditional from other forms and keeps the stress on the correct syllable.
Hablar (-ar verb)
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaría |
| tú | hablarías |
| él / ella / usted | hablaría |
| nosotros | hablaríamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablarían |
Comer (-er verb)
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | comería |
| tú | comerías |
| él / ella / usted | comería |
| nosotros | comeríamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | comerían |
¿Comerías sushi todos los días?
Would you eat sushi every day?
Vivir (-ir verb)
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | viviría |
| tú | vivirías |
| él / ella / usted | viviría |
| nosotros | viviríamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | vivirían |
Viviríamos en la playa si pudiéramos.
We would live at the beach if we could.
Same endings, three classes
Because the endings are identical across all verb classes, conjugating the conditional is essentially a matter of saying the infinitive and adding -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían.
¿Ustedes me ayudarían con la mudanza?
Would you (all) help me with the move?
Quick contrast with the future
Compare the future and conditional side by side — only the endings differ:
| Future | Conditional |
|---|---|
| hablaré | hablaría |
| comerás | comerías |
| vivirá | viviría |
| hablaremos | hablaríamos |
| vivirán | vivirían |
Mañana viajaré a Lima, pero hoy viajaría a Cusco si pudiera.
Tomorrow I will travel to Lima, but today I would travel to Cusco if I could.
Once you are comfortable with the regular pattern, move on to the small group of verbs with irregular stems.
Related Topics
- Irregular StemsB1 — The twelve verbs with irregular future stems use those same stems to form the conditional.
- Usage: Hypothetical SituationsB1 — Use the conditional to talk about what would happen in imagined or unreal situations.
- Usage: Polite RequestsB1 — The conditional softens requests and suggestions, making them sound more courteous than the present tense.