Breakdown of Nosotros haríamos el doctorado, pero no tendríamos tiempo.
pero
but
no
no, not
nosotros
we
hacer
to do / to make
el doctorado
the doctorate
tener tiempo
to have time
Questions & Answers about Nosotros haríamos el doctorado, pero no tendríamos tiempo.
Why is the verb haríamos instead of "haceríamos"?
Haríamos is the conditional form of hacer (to do). In the conditional tense, most verbs just add the ending to the full infinitive, but hacer is irregular. You must use the special stem har- before adding the nosotros ending -íamos.
Where does the "d" in tendríamos come from?
It comes from the irregular conditional stem of tener (to have). Instead of using the full infinitive, the letter "e" drops out and is replaced by a "d", creating the stem tendr-. You then add the standard conditional ending -íamos to get tendríamos (we would have).
Do all verbs use the same -íamos ending in the conditional tense?
Yes! A great thing about the conditional tense is that the endings are identical for all verbs, whether they originally end in -ar, -er, or -ir. The nosotros ending is always -íamos, which is why both of these irregular verbs end the exact same way.
Why does the sentence say hacer el doctorado instead of "conseguir un doctorado" (to get a PhD)?
In Spanish, the standard verb used for studying or completing a university degree is hacer (to do). While English speakers say they "get" a degree, Spanish speakers say they "do" it. It is also very common to use the definite article el (the) rather than un (a) when referring to a specific level of study like a doctorate.
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