Table of Contents |
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1. Introduction To The Conditional | |
2. Conditional with Verbs ending in -er | |
3. Phrases using the Conditional Tense | |
4. Conditional Connectives | |
The conditional tense, known in Spanish as "el condicional o el pospreterito", is used as a means of trying to convey ideas about hypothetical or probable situations to occur if certain conditions are met.
The process of creating or structuring the conditional tense is influenced by conditional endings at the end of the infinitive, as we will see below.
Subject | Conditionals ending | Examples | |
Yo | -ía | Viajaría | I would travel |
Tú | -ías | Comerías | You would eat |
Él/Ella | -ía | Volvería | I would return |
Nosotros | -íamos | Escucharíamos | We would listen to |
Vosotros | -íais | Pintaríais | You would paint |
Ellos/Ellas | ían | Escribirían | They would write |
In the set of verbs that contain in their endings -er something very characteristic occurs and consists in that when we conjugate them to form sentences in this tense we must eliminate the last vowel to proceed to add the corresponding conditional endings, let's see.
si | excepto | a condición de que |
como | a menos que | con tal de que |
por si | a no ser que | siempre y cuando |
salvo | en caso de que | siempre que |
Estudiaré todo lo que deba con tal de aprobar ese examen. | I will study everything I have to in order to pass that exam. |
Se pueden postular para el puesto de trabajo a condición de que se lo tomen en serio. | You can apply for the job provided you take it seriously. |
En caso de que prefieran vino y no agua, el menú es más costoso. | In case you prefer wine and not water, the menu is more expensive. |
Iremos a Francia a menos que nos surja un plan mejor. | We will go to France unless we come up with a better plan. |
Iremos a visitar a la abuela a no ser que ella se vaya de viaje. | We will go to visit Grandma unless she goes on a trip. |