Conditional Tense and Si Clauses

The conditional tense allows you to say what you would do. Combined with si (if) clauses, it creates hypothetical sentences that demonstrate excellent grammar for GCSE Spanish, especially at higher tier.

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1. Formation of the Conditional

The conditional is formed by adding endings to the infinitive (like the future tense but with different endings). Irregular stems are the SAME as in the future tense.

Regular Conditional

Subject	Ending	hablar	comer	vivir
yo	-ía	hablaría	comería	viviría
tú	-ías	hablarías	comerías	vivirías
él/ella	-ía	hablaría	comería	viviría
nosotros	-íamos	hablaríamos	comeríamos	viviríamos
vosotros	-íais	hablaríais	comeríais	viviríais
ellos	-ían	hablarían	comerían	vivirían

Irregular Conditional Stems

Infinitive	Stem	yo form
tener	tendr-	tendría
hacer	har-	haría
poder	podr-	podría
poner	pondr-	pondría
salir	saldr-	saldría
venir	vendr-	vendría
decir	dir-	diría
haber	habr-	habría
saber	sabr-	sabría
querer	querr-	querría

Exam tip: The conditional endings are IDENTICAL to the imperfect -er/-ir endings (-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían). The difference is that the conditional adds them to the infinitive, while the imperfect adds them to the stem.

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2. Uses of the Conditional

Use	Example	English
What you would do	Viviría en España.	I would live in Spain.
Polite requests	¿Podría ayudarme?	Could you help me?
What you would like	Me gustaría viajar.	I would like to travel.
Advice	Yo que tú, estudiaría más.	If I were you, I would study more.
Hypothetical situations	Sería fantástico.	It would be fantastic.

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3. Si Clauses (Conditional Sentences)

Type 1: Present + Future (Real/Possible)

Si + present tense, + future tense

• Si tengo dinero, compraré un coche. — If I have money, I will buy a car.
• Si hace sol, iremos a la playa. — If it's sunny, we will go to the beach.
• Si estudio mucho, aprobaré los exámenes. — If I study a lot, I will pass the exams.

Type 2: Imperfect Subjunctive + Conditional (Unreal/Hypothetical)

Si + imperfect subjunctive, + conditional

• Si tuviera mucho dinero, viajaría por el mundo. — If I had a lot of money, I would travel the world.
• Si pudiera, viviría en España. — If I could, I would live in Spain.
• Si fuera famoso/a, ayudaría a los pobres. — If I were famous, I would help the poor.

graph TD
    A[Si Clauses] --> B[Type 1: Real / Possible]
    A --> C[Type 2: Hypothetical / Unreal]
    B --> D[Si + PRESENT, + FUTURE]
    B --> E[Si tengo dinero, compraré un coche.]
    C --> F[Si + IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE, + CONDITIONAL]
    C --> G[Si tuviera dinero, compraría un coche.]

Exam tip: Using Type 2 si clauses (si tuviera/pudiera/fuera + conditional) is one of the most impressive grammar structures you can use in GCSE Spanish. Even a single well-formed si clause can boost your marks significantly. Learn 3–4 by heart.

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4. Common Si Clause Sentences to Learn

Spanish	English
Si pudiera cambiar algo, cambiaría las reglas del colegio.	If I could change something, I would change the school rules.
Si tuviera más tiempo, haría más deporte.	If I had more time, I would do more sport.
Si ganara la lotería, viajaría por todo el mundo.	If I won the lottery, I would travel the world.
Si fuera presidente, lucharía contra la pobreza.	If I were president, I would fight against poverty.
Si viviera en España, hablaría español todos los días.	If I lived in Spain, I would speak Spanish every day.

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Key Vocabulary Summary

• Conditional endings: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían
• Irregular stems: same as future (tendr-, har-, podr-, pondr-, saldr-)
• Type 1 si clause: si + present + future (real/possible)
• Type 2 si clause: si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional (hypothetical)
• Key phrases: me gustaría, podría, sería, si tuviera, si pudiera, si fuera

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Worked example — conjugating the conditional through all persons

Task: Conjugate three verbs (one regular, two irregular) through all six persons of the conditional, then build six si-clause sentences combining them.

Verb 1 — viajar (regular -ar). Stem = full infinitive viajar-, add -ía endings:

yo         viajaría      (I would travel)
tú         viajarías     (you would travel)
él/ella    viajaría      (he/she would travel)
nosotros   viajaríamos   (we would travel)
vosotros   viajaríais    (you all would travel)
ellos      viajarían     (they would travel)

(Spanish accents: viajaría, viajarías, viajaría, viajaríamos, viajaríais, viajarían — every form carries the í.)

Verb 2 — tener (irregular stem = tendr-):

yo         tendría
tú         tendrías
él/ella    tendría
nosotros   tendríamos
vosotros   tendríais
ellos      tendrían

Verb 3 — hacer (irregular stem = har-):

yo         haría
tú         harías
él/ella    haría
nosotros   haríamos
vosotros   haríais
ellos      harían

Six si-clause sentences mixing them: