The conditional
Would: viviría, me gustaría, podría, and the irregular stems it shares with the future.
Learn
The conditional, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Form the conditional with the infinitive and -ía
Keep the whole infinitive and add -ía for I, -ías for you and -ía for he or she: viviría I would live, comprarías you would buy, sería it would be. The endings are the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs.
Use it to say what would happen
The conditional describes what would happen in a different situation: Con más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. It is perfect for describing your ideal world: En mi casa ideal, habría una piscina.
Say what you would like with me gustaría
Me gustaría with an infinitive means I would like to: Me gustaría ser médico. Change the pronoun for other people: ¿Te gustaría venir?, A mi hermana le gustaría vivir en la costa.
Ask politely with podría
¿Podrías? and ¿Podría? soften a request: ¿Podrías cerrar la puerta? to a friend, and ¿Podría repetir, por favor? to an adult you do not know. It is one of the most useful phrases in a role-play.
Give advice with debería
Debería means should or ought to: Deberías dormir más (you should sleep more), Debería comer más fruta. It sounds softer than debes.
Learn the stems tendr-, har-, podr- and pondr-, and habría
These verbs use the future stems with the conditional endings: tendría, haría, podría, pondría. Habría means there would be (Habría más parques), and tendría que means would have to.
Use the plural conditional endingsHigher only
For we, you all and they, add -íamos, -íais and -ían to the infinitive: viviríamos, iríais, comprarían. Nos gustaría means we would like.
Learn the Higher stems in the conditionalHigher only
The stems sabr-, querr-, vendr-, dir- and saldr- work here too: sabría, querría, vendría, diría, saldría. Yo no diría eso means I would not say that.
The conditional key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Conditional
- The tense for would, made from the infinitive and -ía: Compraría una casa means I would buy a house.
- me gustaría
- I would like, with an infinitive: Me gustaría aprender a conducir means I would like to learn to drive.
- podría
- I could, or I would be able to; also a polite could you: ¿Podría ayudarme? asks an adult for help.
- debería
- Should or ought to: Debería estudiar más means I should study more.
- tendría que
- Would have to: Tendría que trabajar los sábados means I would have to work on Saturdays.
- haría
- Would do or make, from the stem har-: ¿Qué harías tú? asks what you would do.
- habría
- There would be: En mi pueblo ideal habría un cine means in my ideal town there would be a cinema.
- sería
- Would be, from ser: Sería genial means it would be great.
Common mistakes in The conditional
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Adding -ía to the stem, as in comía for I would eat.
The conditional keeps the whole infinitive: comería. Comía is the imperfect, and it means I used to eat.
Following me gustaría with a conjugated verb, as in Me gustaría voy.
Me gustaría is followed by an infinitive: Me gustaría ir, Me gustaría estudiar arte.
Giving an irregular verb a regular stem, as in tenería or podería.
The conditional uses the same short stems as the future: tendría, podría, haría, pondría.
Leaving off the accent, as in seria or gustaria.
Every conditional ending has an accent on the i: sería, gustaría. Without it, seria is a different word, meaning serious.
Writing Yo gustaría for I would like.
Like gustar in every tense, it needs a pronoun in front: Me gustaría, te gustaría, le gustaría.
Practice
Try a The conditional question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
At a tourist office you hear: ¿Podría darme un plano de la ciudad, por favor? What is the speaker asking?
- Can I give you a map of the town, please?
- Did you give me a map of the town?
- Could you give me a map of the town, please?
- Will you give me a map of the town, please?
Show the answer and the working
Answer: Could you give me a map of the town, please?
Podría is the conditional of poder, could you, and darme is to give me: Could you give me a map of the town, please?
- Podría is the conditional of poder: could you.
- Darme is dar with me attached: to give me.
- So the speaker asks: Could you give me a map of the town, please?