The conditional: would, polite requests and possibilities

What you’ll learn

• Form a conditional with an infinitive or irregular stem.
• Make a polite request with podría or gustaría.
• Distinguish an imagined option from a confirmed plan.

Build the would form

The conditional adds -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais or -ían to a regular infinitive: hablaría, comeríamos, vivirían. Every ending carries a written accent on í. Like the future, the conditional uses irregular stems such as tendr-, podr-, har- and dir-: tendría, podríamos, haría, dirían.

Use an explicit context for an imagined option: Con más tiempo, leería otra novela. The conditional does not assert that you have that extra time or that the reading will definitely happen. Keep a distinction between what is actual, what is planned and what is hypothetical.

Use a softer request

¿Podría repetirlo? makes a polite request, and me gustaría... expresses would like. The same gustar structure still applies: Me gustaría viajar, but me gustarían unas vacaciones más largas. The thing or activity determines singular or plural even though the tense has changed.

You will also encounter a conditional when reporting a future from a past viewpoint: Dijo que vendría. Do not add a conditional after every si. The complete patterns for hypothetical si clauses include forms beyond this introductory lesson. Start with the useful requests and explicit imagined contexts here, and keep the intended degree of certainty clear.

Useful vocabulary

me gustaría

I would like

podría

I/he/she could

elegir

to choose

Common mistakes

• Write the accent in -ía and -íamos.
• Use tendría, not tenería, with the irregular stem.
• A hypothetical option is not the same as a confirmed future event.

Keep these ideas

• Conditional endings attach to the infinitive or an irregular stem.
• Podría and me gustaría are useful for polite requests and preferences.
• State the context so an imagined possibility is clear.

Use it in your life

Recommend a different ending for a story using yo elegiría or yo cambiaría. Then make one polite request a character might need.

Read it in context

Look for this lesson’s ideas in a complete Spanish story. Read the passage first, then use its translations to check your understanding.