Using the Conditional Mood to Express Possibility

In English, when we want to talk about possibilities, we usually say would, e.g., I would eat, etc. We are speaking in what is called the conditional mood.

The conditional is a mood, not a tense. This means that it describes a point of view (possibility), not a time (past, present or future).

The conditional mood is formed by adding endings on to the infinitive verb:

• yo -- ía
  tú -- ías
  él, ella, usted -- ía
  nosotros -- íamos
  vosotros -- íais
  ellos/ellas, ustedes -- ían

Here are the three model verbs completely conjugated in the conditional mood for all persons. Remember, they are models and the same endings can be used with any verb, regardless if it ends in -ar, -er or -ir.

Remember to follow these steps to conjugate correctly:

• 1. Identify the infinitive.
  2. Add the following endings on to the infinitive form:
  

	HABLAR to speak	COMER to eat	VIVIR to live
yo	hablaría	comería	viviría
tú	hablarías	vivirías	comerías
él/ella, Ud.	hablaría	comería	viviría
nosotros/nosotras	hablaríamos	comeríamos	viviríamos
vosotros/vosotras	hablaríais	comeríais	viviríais
ellos/ellas, Uds.	hablarían	comerían	vivirían

• Yo hablaría-- I would speak
  Ella comería -- She would eat
  Nosotros viviríamos -- We would live

There's an important number of irregular forms, including haber (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) which must be memorised. To form the conditional mood of irregular verbs, add the endings on to the irregular stem.

Here are the most common irregular conditional mood verbs. Note that the irregular stem is often a contracted form of the infinitive:

• caber -- to fit -- yo cabría, etc.
  poder -- to be able to/can -- yo podría, etc.
  poner -- to put/to place -- yo pondría, etc.
  decir -- to say/to tell -- yo diría, etc.
  salir -- to go out/to come out/to leave -- yo saldría, etc.
  hacer --  to make/to do -- yo haría, etc.
  querer -- to want/to love -- yo querría, etc.
  tener -- to have -- yo tendría, etc.
  valer -- to be worth --  yo valdría, etc.
  saber -- to know -- yo sabría, etc.
  venir -- to come -- yo vendría, etc.

Remember, unlike most conjugations, the conditional mood is formed by adding endings on to the infinitive verb.