The conditional does not exist as a separate tense in English and some

modern English grammar books do not include it. However, the condi-

tional is a very important tense in Spanish. There is an English verb

form which is similar to the Spanish conditional and which can help

you understand it. For our purposes, we will call this form the “condi-

tional.” The conditional has a present and past tense called the condi-

tional (present) and the conditional perfect (past).

Conditional

IN ENGLISH

The “conditional” is a compound tense. It is formed with the auxiliary

would + the dictionary form of the main verb.

I would like some ketchup, please.

If she had the money, she would call him.

I said that I would come tomorrow.

The conditional is used in the following ways:

• as a polite form with like and in polite requests

I would like to eat.

This is more polite than “I want to eat.”

Would you please close the door.

The command “please close the door” is softened by would.

• in the main clause of a hypothetical statement

If I had a lot of money, I would buy a Cadillac.

“I would buy a Cadillac” is a clause because it is composed of a

group of words containing a subject (I) and a verb (would buy) and

is used as part of sentence. It is called the main clause because it

expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself without being

attached to the first part of the sentence (“If I had a lot of money”).

It is also called the result clause because it expresses what would

happen as the result of getting a lot of money.

“If I had a lot of money” is called the subordinate clause, or if-

clause. It is subordinate because, although as all clauses it contains

a subject (I) and a verb (had), it does not express a complete

thought and cannot stand alone. It must be attached to the main

clause.

The entire statement is called hypothetical because it refers to a con-

dition that does not exist at the present time (the person speaking

does not have a lot of money), but there is a remote possibility of its

becoming a reality (the person speaking could have a lot of

money some day).

in an indirect statement to express a future-in-the-past

An indirect statement repeats, or reports, but does not quote,

someone’s words, as opposed to a direct statement which is a word-

for-word quotation of what someone said. In written form a direct

statement is always between quotation marks.

indirect statement Paul said Mary would come.

1

past conditional

direct statement Paul said, “Mary will come.”

past future

In the indirect statement, action 2 is called a future-in-the-past

because it takes placed after another action in the past, action 1. In

the direct statement, action 2 is merely a quotation of what was

said.

IN SPANISH

The conditional is a simple tense; you do not need an auxiliary verb to

indicate it. The conditional is formed with the future stem (see p. 86)

+ the endings of the imperfect tense for -er and -ir verbs (-Ia, -las, -Ia,

-iamos, -iais, -ian).

Stem Conditional

hablar- hablaria I would speak

comer- comeria I would eat

vivir- viviria I would live

pondr- pondria I would put

har- haria I would do

The conditional is used in the same ways as in English:

• as a polite form or in polite requests

~Podria Ud. cerrar la puerta, por favor?

conditional

Would you close the door, please?

91

• in the main clause of a hypothetical statement to express what you

would do under certain conditions

Si tuviera mucho dinero, compraria una casa grande.

conditional

If I had a lot of money, I would buy a big house.

• in an indirect statement to express a future-in-the-past

Dijo que vendria.

conditional

He said that he would come.

Sabia que Iloverfa esta noche.

conditional

I knew that it would rain this evening.

Conditional Perfect

IN ENGLISH

The conditional perfect is formed with the auxiliary would have + the

past participle of the main verb.

I would have come if I had known.

Unlike some statements in the conditional where there is a possibility

of their becoming a reality, all statements using the conditional perfect

are contrary-to-fact: the main action never happened because the con-

dition expressed was never met and it is now over and done with.

He would have spoken if he had known the truth.

past conditional

Contrary-to-fact: He did not speak because he did not know the truth.

If you had called us, we would have come.

past conditional

Contrary-to-fact: We did not come because you didn’t call us.

I would have eaten if I had been hungry.

past conditional

Contrary-to-fact: I did not eat because I wasn’t hungry.

IN SPANISH

The conditional perfect is formed with the auxiliary verb haber (to

have) in the conditional tense + the past participle of the main verb:

habria salido (see p. 67). As in English, statements using the condi-

tional perfect are contrary-to-fact.

Si hubieran estudiado más, habrfan recibido mejores notas.

conditional perfect

If they had studied more, they would have received better grades.

conditional perfect

Sequence of Tenses

Let us study some examples of constructions with conditions and their

results so that you learn to recognize them and to use the appropriate

Spanish tense.

Hypothetical and contrary-to-fact statements are easy to recognize

because they are made up of two clauses:

• the if-clause; that is, the subordinate clause that starts with tf(si in

Spanish)

• the result clause; that is, the main clause

The sequence of tenses is sometimes the same in both Spanish and

English. If you have difficulty recognizing tenses, just apply these

three rules.

IF-CLAUSE -4 present tense RESULT CLAUSE —* future tense

ff1 have time, I will go to the party.

present future

Si tengo tiempo, ire a la fiesta.

I I

present future

IF-CLAUSE —4 past tense (English) RESULT CLAUSE -4 conditional

imperfect subjunctive (Spanish)

ff1 had more time, I wg~g~yo to the party.

past conditional

Si tuviera más tiempo, iria a la fiesta.

imperfect conditional

subjunctive

93

IF-CLAUSE —+ past perfect (English) RESULT CLAUSE —> conditional perl

pluperfect subjunctive (Spanish)

If I had had more time, I would have gone to the party

we

past perfect conditional perfect

Si hubiera tenido más tiempo, habria ido a la fiesta.

we

pluperfect subjunctive conditional perfect

In English and in Spanish the if-clause can come either at the be~

fling of the sentence before the main clause or at the end of the s

tence. The tense of each clause remains the same no matter the or

of the clauses.

I would have gone to the party if I had had more time.

conditiona perfect

past perfect

Habria ido a la fiesta si hubiera tenido más tiempo.

we

conditional perfect pluperfect subjunctive

IF-CLAUSE —> past perfect (English) RESULT CLAUSE —* conditional perfect

pluperfect subjunctive (Spanish)

If I had had more time, I would have gone to the party

we

past perfect conditional perfect

Si hubiera tenido más tiempo, habria ido a la fiesta.

we

pluperfect subjunctive conditional perfect

In English and in Spanish the if-clause can come either at the begin-

ning of the sentence before the main clause or at the end of the sen-

tence. The tense of each clause remains the same no matter the order

of the clauses.

I would have gone to the party if I had had more time.

conditiona perfect

past perfect

Habria ido a la fiesta si hubiera tenido más tiempo.

we

conditional perfect pluperfect subjunctive