Two grammar systems produce more si tendría dinero-style horror sentences than any others in Spanish: reported speech (turning he said "I'll come" into Spanish) and conditional sentences (the if I had X, I would Y pattern). Both rely on sequence of tenses — consecutio temporum — a rule that English handles loosely and Spanish handles strictly. When English speakers don't know the rule exists, they default to whatever tense feels natural, and the resulting sentence sounds, to a Spanish ear, somewhere between toddler grammar and outright impossible.
This page lays out the two systems side by side, explains the underlying logic, and walks through the specific errors English speakers make. The headline rule: after si meaning "if" in a counterfactual, never use the conditional. Si tendría is the cardinal sin. We'll cover why, and what to write instead.
Reported speech: the backshift
When you quote someone directly, Spanish preserves the original tense: Dijo: "vengo mañana" (He said: "I'm coming tomorrow"). When you report indirectly with que, the tense shifts back along a predictable scale, anchored to the reporting verb.
The scale, in plain terms:
| Direct quote tense | Reported (past) tense | English parallel |
|---|---|---|
| Present (vengo) | Imperfect (venía) | "I come" → he said he came |
| Preterite (vine) | Pluperfect (había venido) | "I came" → he said he had come |
| Perfect (he venido) | Pluperfect (había venido) | "I have come" → he said he had come |
| Future (vendré) | Conditional (vendría) | "I will come" → he said he would come |
| Imperative (ven) | Imperfect subjunctive (viniera) | "Come!" → he told me to come |
| Present subjunctive (venga) | Imperfect subjunctive (viniera) | "that he come" → that he would come |
Me dijo que venía a la fiesta.
He told me he was coming to the party. (Direct: 'vengo a la fiesta.' Present → imperfect after dijo.)
Me dijo que vendría a la fiesta.
He told me he would come to the party. (Direct: 'vendré.' Future → conditional after dijo.)
Me dijo que ya había cenado.
He told me he'd already had dinner. (Direct: 'ya he cenado' or 'ya cené.' Perfect/preterite → pluperfect.)
Me pidió que le ayudara con la mudanza.
He asked me to help him with the move. (Direct: '¡ayúdame!' or 'quiero que me ayudes.' Imperative or present subjunctive → imperfect subjunctive after pidió.)
The exception: present-relevant reports
If the reported fact is still true at the moment of reporting, Spanish allows you to keep the present tense — but this is a stylistic choice, not the default. The safe default is to backshift.
Me dijo que Madrid es la capital de España.
He told me Madrid is the capital of Spain. (A timeless fact — present stays.)
Me dijo que Madrid era la capital de España.
He told me Madrid was the capital of Spain. (Backshifted — equally correct, slightly more formal.)
For news-style reports of someone's current state, the backshifted form sounds more natural in narrative; the present form sounds more like a quick paraphrase. Both exist; learn to backshift first, then loosen as your ear develops.
Reported questions
Questions follow the same backshift rules. Sí/no questions are introduced with si (whether); information questions keep their question word.
Me preguntó si quería un café.
He asked me if I wanted a coffee. (Direct: '¿quieres un café?' Quieres → quería.)
Le pregunté dónde había aparcado el coche.
I asked him where he'd parked the car. (Direct: '¿dónde aparcaste/has aparcado el coche?' Preterite/perfect → pluperfect.)
Nos preguntaron a qué hora llegaríamos.
They asked us what time we'd arrive. (Direct: '¿a qué hora llegáis/llegaréis?' Future → conditional.)
A subtle point: in reported sí/no questions, the conjunction is si without an accent — not the sí with an accent that means yes. The two are spelled differently and never confused once you notice the diacritic.
Conditional sentences: the three types
Spanish conditionals come in three flavors, distinguished by how likely or factual the if-clause is. English roughly parallels them, but the Spanish system is strict about which tense pairs go together.
Type 1: real / open condition
The condition is presented as a real possibility. The si-clause uses the present indicative, and the main clause uses the present, future, or imperative.
Si tienes tiempo esta tarde, llámame.
If you have time this afternoon, give me a call. (Imperative in main clause.)
Si llueve, no vamos al parque.
If it rains, we won't go to the park. (Present + present.)
Si apruebas el examen, te invito a cenar.
If you pass the exam, I'll buy you dinner. (Present + present-as-future.)
Critical rule: in Type 1, the si-clause never takes the future tense, even when the meaning is future. Spanish uses the present after si for future possibilities. Si lloverá is wrong; si llueve is right.
Type 2: counterfactual present / unlikely future
The condition is presented as contrary to current reality or as a remote future possibility. The si-clause uses the imperfect subjunctive, and the main clause uses the conditional.
Si tuviera más tiempo, aprendería japonés.
If I had more time, I'd learn Japanese. (I don't have the time — counterfactual present.)
Si ganara la lotería, me compraría una casa en el campo.
If I won the lottery, I'd buy a house in the countryside. (Remote future possibility.)
Si fuera tú, no iría a esa reunión.
If I were you, I wouldn't go to that meeting. (Counterfactual — I'm not you.)
The imperfect subjunctive has two interchangeable forms: tuviera / tuviese, ganara / ganase, fuera / fuese. In peninsular speech, -ra is slightly more common in everyday use; -se is felt as more formal or literary, though many speakers mix them freely.
Type 3: counterfactual past
The condition refers to a past situation that did not occur. The si-clause uses the pluperfect subjunctive, and the main clause uses the conditional perfect (or, in everyday speech, also the pluperfect subjunctive).
Si hubiera estudiado más, habría aprobado.
If I had studied more, I would have passed. (I didn't study enough; I didn't pass.)
Si me hubieras llamado antes, habríamos podido vernos.
If you had called me earlier, we could have seen each other.
Si lo hubiera sabido, no habría venido.
If I had known, I wouldn't have come.
In colloquial peninsular Spanish, the conditional perfect habría aprobado is sometimes replaced by the pluperfect subjunctive hubiera aprobado in the main clause — si hubiera estudiado más, hubiera aprobado. This is accepted in speech but considered less polished in writing. Use habría in your written sentences and you'll always be safe.
Mixed conditionals
You can mix Type 2 and Type 3 when the if condition is past but the consequence is present.
Si hubiera estudiado medicina, ahora ganaría más dinero.
If I had studied medicine, I'd earn more money now. (Past condition → present consequence.)
Si fuera más alto, habría jugado al baloncesto.
If I were taller, I would have played basketball. (Present condition → past consequence.)
The cardinal sin: si tendría
Here is the single error to never make. Spanish forbids the conditional after si meaning "if" in a counterfactual. Type 2 takes the imperfect subjunctive; Type 3 takes the pluperfect subjunctive. The conditional belongs in the other clause — the consequence — not in the si-clause.
❌ Si tendría dinero, compraría una casa.
Si + conditional is ungrammatical.
✅ Si tuviera dinero, compraría una casa.
If I had money, I'd buy a house. — imperfect subjunctive in si-clause, conditional in main clause.
❌ Si habría sabido, no habría venido.
Si + conditional perfect is also ungrammatical.
✅ Si hubiera sabido, no habría venido.
If I had known, I wouldn't have come. — pluperfect subjunctive in si-clause.
This error is so distinctive that Spanish speakers can identify English-speaker learners from a single sentence. The reason it happens: English uses would have / would in both clauses (if I would have known, I wouldn't have come) in casual speech, and the English-speaker brain transfers that pattern. Train yourself to feel the si and the conditional as oil and water — they never share a clause.
Common Mistakes
❌ Dijo que viene mañana.
If the reporting verb is past, the embedded present usually backshifts to the imperfect.
✅ Dijo que venía mañana.
He said he was coming tomorrow. — backshift after dijo.
❌ Dijo que vendrá mañana.
Future under past reporting → conditional, not future.
✅ Dijo que vendría mañana.
He said he would come tomorrow. — vendría, conditional after past reporting.
❌ Me preguntó que si tenía hambre.
Two errors: 'que si' (drop the que), and the embedded reported tense is fine — but learners often add 'que' as a calque from English 'asked that.'
✅ Me preguntó si tenía hambre.
He asked if I was hungry. — no que before si in reported yes/no questions.
❌ Si tendría tiempo, iría contigo.
The cardinal sin: si + conditional in the same clause.
✅ Si tuviera tiempo, iría contigo.
If I had time, I'd go with you. — imperfect subjunctive in si-clause.
❌ Si lloverá mañana, no salimos.
Si never takes the future. Future possibilities in the if-clause are expressed with the present.
✅ Si llueve mañana, no salimos.
If it rains tomorrow, we won't go out. — present after si even for future meaning.
❌ Si hubiera estudiado más, aprobaría el examen.
Type 3 (past condition) needs conditional perfect, not simple conditional, in the main clause — unless you really mean a present consequence.
✅ Si hubiera estudiado más, habría aprobado el examen.
If I had studied more, I would have passed the exam. — conditional perfect for past consequence.
❌ Me pidió que le ayudo con la mudanza.
Reported requests with past pedir take the imperfect subjunctive.
✅ Me pidió que le ayudara con la mudanza.
He asked me to help him with the move. — imperfect subjunctive after past pedir que.
Watch out for these additional gotchas
- Cuando in reported speech doesn't take the imperfect subjunctive — it backshifts to the imperfect indicative or pluperfect. Me dijo que vendría cuando terminara — here terminara is correct because cuando
- future is already a subjunctive trigger, and the imperfect subjunctive is the past-shifted version of the present subjunctive termine. The system is consistent if you remember: backshift each tense one notch into the past.
- The conditional can mark probability in the past, not just the consequence of a hypothetical. Serían las tres cuando llegó = it must have been around three when he arrived. This is conditional-of-probability, distinct from the conditional in counterfactuals.
- The future can also mark present probability. Estará en casa = he's probably at home. This use sometimes confuses learners who expect the future to mean will.
- Como si always takes imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive, never present. Habla como si supiera todo (he talks as if he knew everything) — not como si sabe. Se comporta como si no hubiera pasado nada (he acts as if nothing had happened).
- The construction de + infinitivo can replace si-clauses in writing. De haber sabido, no habría venido = si hubiera sabido, no habría venido. This is literary or formal; in conversation, stick with si.
- In peninsular speech, hubiera sometimes substitutes for habría in the main clause of Type 3 conditionals (si lo hubiera sabido, lo hubiera dicho). This is colloquially fine and increasingly common in writing, but textbook-formal Spanish keeps habría in the main clause.
Key Takeaways
- Reported speech backshifts each tense one notch into the past relative to the reporting verb. Present → imperfect, future → conditional, preterite/perfect → pluperfect, imperative/present subjunctive → imperfect subjunctive.
- Type 1 conditionals: si
- present indicative + present/future/imperative. Real possibilities.
- Type 2 conditionals: si
- imperfect subjunctive + conditional. Counterfactual present or remote future.
- Type 3 conditionals: si
- pluperfect subjunctive + conditional perfect. Counterfactual past.
- The cardinal sin: si
- conditional in the same clause.
- Si never takes the future either — Type 1's si-clause uses the present even for future meaning.
- The two imperfect subjunctive endings (-ra / -se) are interchangeable; -ra is slightly more common in everyday peninsular speech.
- In colloquial Spain, hubiera substitutes for habría in the main clause of Type 3 conditionals. Recognize it, but write habría until your ear is sure.
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- Imperfecto de subjuntivo: referencia completaB2 — A single-page reference covering both -ra and -se forms of the imperfect subjunctive, regular and irregular conjugations, all major uses, and the peninsular vosotros endings throughout.
- Condicionales tipo 1: real futuroA2 — Spanish Type 1 conditionals describe a real future possibility. The 'si'-clause goes in the present indicative; the main clause can be future, 'ir a' + infinitive, imperative, or present indicative.
- Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo: formaciónB2 — Build the pluperfect subjunctive with hubiera/hubiese + past participle — the tense of past regret and past counterfactuals.
- Errores: evitar el subjuntivoB1 — English speakers default to the indicative everywhere and skip the subjunctive even after its clearest triggers — querer que, espero que, cuando + future, antes de que. The map of every trigger you're missing, with the underlying logic that makes them predictable.
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