Spanish Conditional Tense (Lección 16.2)

Flashcards covering the conjugation, irregular stems, and usage of the Spanish conditional tense as presented in Lección 16.2.

The conditional tense

Expresses what you would do or what would happen under certain circumstances.

Conditional endings

$-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían$ (the same for all $-ar$, $-er$, and $-ir$ verbs).

Regular verb formation in the conditional

The conditional endings are added directly to the infinitive of the verb.

Accentuation in the conditional

All forms of the conditional carry a written accent on the "i" in the ending.

Habría

The conditional form of hay (infinitive haber), meaning "there would be".

Dir-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb decir.

Har-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb hacer.

Podr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb poder.

Pondr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb poner.

Querr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb querer.

Sabr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb saber.

Saldr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb salir.

Tendr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb tener.

Vendr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb venir.

Habr-

The irregular conditional stem for the verb haber.

Polite requests

A common use of the conditional tense in Spanish, such as saying "¿Podrías llamar…?" (Would you call…?).

Future vs. Conditional relation

The future tense is often used if the main verb is in the present tense, while the conditional is often used if the main verb is in one of the past tenses.

Past habitual actions (English "would/used to")

To express past habitual actions, Spanish uses the imperfect tense (e.g., "ĺbamos al parque"), not the conditional.

Conditional of probability

Used to express conjecture or probability about past conditions, events, or actions, often corresponding to English expressions like "must have been" or "probably."