Promises of the past
If someone made a promise or a prediction in the past, their original words likely used the future tense (for example, "La fusión será rentable"). But when you report that statement later using a past-tense reporting verb like dijo (said), the future tense shifts into the conditional.
| The director said that the merger would be profitable. | El director dijo que la fusión sería rentable. |
Notice how será (will be) shifts to sería (would be).
To form the conditional, simply add the following endings directly to the infinitive. The endings are exactly the same for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs:
| Pronoun | Conditional ending | Example (adquirir) |
|---|---|---|
| yo / él / ella / usted | -ía | adquiriría |
| tú | -ías | adquirirías |
| nosotros / nosotras | -íamos | adquiriríamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ían | adquirirían |
Corporate announcements
This shift from the future to the conditional is especially common when reporting on business announcements, corporate strategies, and executive promises. Reporting verbs like prometió (promised), anunció (announced), and explicó (explained) trigger the exact same shift as dijo.
| The board promised that it would acquire the competitor. | La junta prometió que adquiriría al competidor. |
| The manager announced that the financial strategy would change. | El gerente anunció que la estrategia financiera cambiaría. |
| She confirmed that they would expand the profitable business. | Ella confirmó que expandirían el negocio rentable. |
Finally, remember that verbs with irregular stems in the future tense use those exact same irregular stems in the conditional. For example, tener (to have) becomes tendría (would have):
| They explained that expanding the business would have a risk. | Ellos explicaron que expandir el negocio tendría un riesgo. |