Conditional

Condicional

B114 practice questions

Would-forms: hablaría, tendría, and polite requests.

The rule

The conditional (el condicional) is the 'would / could / should' mood. Form it by adding -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían to the whole infinitive: hablaría, comería, viviría. 'Could' = poder in the conditional (podría); 'should' = deber in the conditional (debería). Some verbs use an irregular stem (the same stems as the future tense): tener → tendría, hacer → haría, decir → diría, poner → pondría, salir → saldría, venir → vendría, poder → podría, saber → sabría, querer → querría, haber → habría, valer → valdría, caber → cabría.

Examples

  • Podría regresar más tarde.

    I could come back later. (could = poder in the conditional)

  • Debería esperar.

    I should wait. (should = deber in the conditional)

  • Llamaría a la oficina, pero no tengo tiempo.

    I would call the office, but I don't have time.

  • No podría hacerlo.

    I couldn't do it.

  • Tendríamos que avisarle.

    We would have to let him know. (tener → irregular stem tendr-)

Try it yourself

Three quick questions, straight from the app. No sign-up needed.

Try it: question 1 of 2

'I could come back later.' → ___ regresar más tarde.

I could come back later.

All 14 Conditional questions, free in Hablaba

Hablaba spots this exact rule in your real conversations and points you back to the quiz for it. The drills feed the speaking, which is the point of the whole app.

Join the waitlistFree while in early access

Keep going

Preterite vs ImperfectPreteriteImperfectPluperfect

Get one new rule like this each week: