Lesson 28: Conditional simple — "I would do", polite requests, future-in-the-past

Part 1: What conditional simple is

Conditional simple maps almost cleanly onto English "would" + verb: "I would speak", "he would say", "it would be good". One form, four jobs.

English uses would for: polite softening ("would you help me?"), hypothesis ("I would go"), reported future ("he said he would come"), and even a guess ("that would be John at the door"). Spanish condicional covers exactly the same four jobs — once you know the form, the mapping is one-to-one.

1. Politeness. Me gustaría un café. — "I'd like a coffee" (softer than blunt quiero un café).
2. Hypothesis. Yo en tu lugar diría la verdad. — "In your place I'd tell the truth."
3. Future-in-the-past. Me dijo que vendría. — "He said he would come." Past main verb → its "future" is condicional.
4. Conditional of probability. Estaría enfermo. — "He was probably sick / must have been sick."

A fifth use — the then-clause of hypothetical si-sentences — arrives in full in Lesson 38. Half that construction is just the conditional you build today.

---

Part 2: Formation — stem + ending

Formula: same stem as futuro (Lesson 27) + the imperfect -er/-ir endings.

Endings (one set for all verbs: -ar, -er, -ir)

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

Note the tilde on the í in every form — it marks the stress. Drop it and the word reads wrong (and means something else).

Regular verbs — stem = full infinitive

	hablar (to speak)	comer (to eat)	vivir (to live)
yo	hablaría	comería	viviría
tú	hablarías	comerías	vivirías
él / ella / usted	hablaría	comería	viviría
nosotros	hablaríamos	comeríamos	viviríamos
vosotros	hablaríais	comeríais	viviríais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablarían	comerían	vivirían

No tricks: glue -ía onto hablar and you've got hablaría "I would speak". All three verb groups behave identically here.

Irregular stems — the same 12 from futuro

Good news #2: zero new stems. If you learned the L27 list, port it over one-for-one.

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

Trap: querría (I'd like) is written with two r's — stem querr- + ending -ía. Rolled in pronunciation. On paper people often confuse it with quería (I wanted, imperfect) — different word, different job. More on this in Part 6.

---

Part 3: The four functions in detail

Function 1: Politeness — softening a request

In English, "I want a coffee" sounds brusque; you'd normally say "I'd like a coffee" or "could I get a coffee?". Spanish works the same way: quiero is fine with friends, but with a stranger you reach for the conditional.

Polite Spanish	Literal	When to use
Me gustaría un café.	I'd like a coffee.	standard café order
¿Podría usted ayudarme?	Could you help me?	stopping a stranger
¿Sería posible pagar con tarjeta?	Would it be possible to pay by card?	asking about an option
¿Podría decirme dónde está la estación?	Could you tell me where the station is?	asking directions
¿Le importaría abrir la ventana?	Would you mind opening the window?	on a train, in an office

Café rule: quiero = "I want" (blunt to a stranger); me gustaría = "I'd like" (always safe). When in doubt — me gustaría. English mirror: ¿podría…? = "could you…?", me gustaría = "I'd like". One-to-one.

Function 2: Hypothesis — "if I were you…"

Spanish	English
Yo en tu lugar diría la verdad.	In your place I'd tell the truth.
Yo que tú no iría.	If I were you I wouldn't go.
Si fuera tú, esperaría.	If I were you, I would wait.
Sería mejor descansar.	It would be better to rest.

Gateway to the second-type si-sentence (si fuera, esperaría) — full treatment in Lesson 38. Rule of thumb: English "would" in a hypothetical → Spanish conditional.

Function 3: Future-in-the-past

English: "He said he would come tomorrow." Spanish: Dijo que vendría mañana. Both languages back-shift "will" → "would" when the reporting verb is past. Free transfer.

Direct speech	Reported speech
Vendré mañana.	Me dijo que vendría al día siguiente.
Te llamaré.	Prometió que me llamaría.
No lo haré.	Dije que no lo haría.
Tendremos tiempo.	Pensé que tendríamos tiempo.

Logic: main verb past (dijo, prometió, pensé) → "future relative to that moment" is conditional, not futuro. Mirrors English exactly.

Function 4: Conditional of probability — guessing about the past

The surprising one for English speakers. Spanish uses the conditional to guess about a past state, the way English uses "must have been" or "was probably":

Spanish	English
Estaría enfermo.	He must have been sick.
Serían las tres cuando llegó.	It must have been 3 o'clock when he arrived.
Tendría unos treinta años.	He must have been around thirty.

Parallel: Lesson 27's futuro of probability guesses about the present (serán las tres = "it must be 3 now"). Conditional shifts the same trick into the past (serían las tres = "it must have been 3 then").

Bonus use: Advice — deberías, podrías

Spanish	English
Deberías descansar.	You should rest.
Podrías llamarle.	You could call him.
Tendrías que estudiar más.	You'd need to study more.
Yo no haría eso.	I wouldn't do that.

Deberías is everyday Spanish for "you should" — softer than the imperative descansa, less commanding than tienes que.

---

Part 6: Conditional vs. imperfect — the trap

The two look similar but do different jobs:

Imperfect (L23)	Conditional (this lesson)
hablaba — "I used to speak"	hablaría — "I would speak"
comía — "I was eating"	comería — "I would eat"
quería — "I wanted"	querría — "I would like" (two r's)
podía — "I could / was able to"	podría — "I could (hypothetically)"
tenía — "I had"	tendría — "I would have" (stem tendr-!)

English-speaker shortcut: does English use "would"? → conditional. Does English use a past tense or "used to"? → imperfect. The form gives it away too: full infinitive + ía (or future stem + ía) is conditional; just root + ía is imperfect.

---