El condicional simple (Conditional Tense)

What would you do to fight against climate change and make the world a better place? I know, it is a very profound question! Whatever ideas you may have, you will be needing el condicional (conditional tense) to discuss hypothetical situations. What would we do without it?

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El condicional is used to talk about what would happen in the future under certain conditions. It is equivalent to the structure “would” + verb in English.

How do we form it? Good news again! Just like with the future tense, the conditional is quite simple to form! Again, you just need to add the conditional endings to the infinitive form of the verb. You do not need to drop the -ar, -er, and -ir endings, but rather, you attach the conditional conjugations to the full form of the verb. More good news! All three groups of verbs (-ar, -er, -ir) also use the same verb endings, which are as follows:

Here are some sample conjugations from each group of verbs:

Reciclar (to recycle)

Recoger (to pick up)

Reducir (to reduce)

Just like with the future tense, there are some verbs that are irregular in the conditional tense. However, it is only the stem that is irregular, the endings stay the same. Here is a list of the most common ones:

• tener → tendr-

• to have

• salir → saldr-

• to go out

• venir → vendr-

• to come

• poner → pondr-

• to put

• saber → sabr-

• to know

• poder → podr-

• to be able to

• decir → dir-

• to say

• hacer → har-

• to do/make

• querer →  querr-

• to want

Here is an example of an irregular verb conjugation in the conditional:

Tener (to have)

Note: Don't forget that the verb haber only has one form in each tense, in the conditional is habría. For example:

• Pensé que habría más vegetación en Nueva York. 🗽🌳

• I thought there would be more vegetation in New York.

El condicional is mainly used to express hypothetical actions or situations. Check out these examples:

• Con mucho dinero, me compraría un coche eléctrico y una mansión ecológica.

• With a lot of money, I would buy an electric car and an eco-friendly mansion.

• ¿Qué harías para combatir el cambio climático?

• What would you do to fight climate change?

• ¿Viajarías a una isla desierta?

• Would you travel to a deserted island?

In reported speech, it can also be used to express what somebody said they would do, for example:

• Raúl dijo que reciclaría con más frecuencia este año

• Raúl said that he would recycle more often this year.

Last but not least, el condicional can also be used to make polite requests:

• ¿Podrías ayudarme a recoger la basura?

• Could you help me pick up the trash?

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