What the condicional is for
The condicional simple says what somebody would do, or what could happen under a certain condition. It covers the ground English shares out between would, could, should and would like. English builds this with a helper plus a bare verb (would speak); Spanish builds it with an ending, so there is no Spanish word for would.
First impression
Yo hablaría con él primero.
I would talk to him first.
¿Vivirías en otro país?
Would you live in another country?
The forms
hablar · comer · vivir
| Person | hablar | comer | vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaría | comería | viviría |
| tú | hablarías | comerías | vivirías |
| él/ella/usted | hablaría | comería | viviría |
| nosotros/as | hablaríamos | comeríamos | viviríamos |
| vosotros/as | hablaríais | comeríais | viviríais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hablarían | comerían | vivirían |
The infinitive stays intact and the endings are identical for all three verbs.
Regular forms in a sentence
Comeríamos en ese restaurante, pero está muy lejos.
We would eat at that restaurant, but it is very far away.
Ellos trabajarían el fin de semana por ese sueldo.
They would work at the weekend for that salary.
Twelve common verbs have a different stem, for example tener → tendría, poder → podría, hacer → haría. They take the same endings.
What you actually use it for
Polite requests
The condicional softens a request, just as English could you is gentler than can you and I'd like gentler than I want.
¿Podría repetir eso, por favor?
Could you repeat that, please?
¿Le importaría cerrar la ventana?
Would you mind closing the window?
¿Podrías ayudarme?
Could you help me?
Wishes
English I'd like is most often me gustaría in Spanish.
Me gustaría reservar una mesa.
I would like to book a table.
¿Qué te gustaría hacer este fin de semana?
What would you like to do this weekend?
Advice
English should is a word of its own; Spanish gets it from deberías (you should) and the phrase yo en tu lugar (if I were you).
Deberías descansar un poco más.
You should rest a bit more.
Yo en tu lugar hablaría con él.
If I were you, I would talk to him.
Hypotheticals
What would happen under an imagined condition goes in the condicional, for example after con (with) and sin (without).
Con más tiempo, aprenderíamos japonés.
With more time we would learn Japanese.
Sin coche, no llegaría a tiempo.
Without a car I wouldn't arrive on time.
