1. 09/28/09
The conditional tense (el condicional) takes the same endings for all –ar, –er, and –ir verbs. For regular verbs, the endings are added to the infinitive.
¿Te dijo en qué coche vendría?
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2. 09/28/09
¡ATENCIÓN!
Note that all of the conditional endings carry a written accent mark.
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3. 09/28/09
Verbs with irregular future stems have the same irregular stem in the conditional.
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4. Uses of the conditional
09/28/09
Uses of the conditional
The conditional is used to express what would occur under certain circumstances.
¿Qué ciudad de Ecuador visitarías primero?
Which city in Ecuador would you visit first?
Iría primero a Quito y después a Guayaquil.
First I would go to Quito and then to Guayaquil.
The English would is used to express the conditional, but it can also express what used to happen. To express habitual past actions, Spanish uses the imperfect, not the conditional.
Cuando era pequeña, iba a la playa todos los veranos.
When I was young, I would (used to) go to the beach every summer.
¡ATENCIÓN!
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5. The conditional is also used to make polite requests.
09/28/09
The conditional is also used to make polite requests.
¿Podrías pasarme ese mapa, por favor?
Could you pass me that map, please?
¿Le importaría (a usted) cuidar mis plantas?
Would you mind taking care of my plants?
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6. 09/28/09
Just as the future tense is one of several ways of expressing a future action, the conditional is one of several ways of expressing a future action as perceived in the past. In this case, the conditional expresses what someone said or thought would happen.
Dicen que mañana hará viento.
Creía que hoy haría viento.
They say it will be windy tomorrow.
I thought it would be windy today.
Dicen que mañana va a hacer viento.
Creía que hoy iba a hacer viento.
They say it’s going to be windy tomorrow.
I thought it was going to be windy today.
© and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.

7. 09/28/09
In Spanish, the conditional may be used to express conjecture or probability about a past event. English expresses this in various ways using words and expressions such as wondered, must have been, and was probably.
¿A qué hora regresaría?
Serían las ocho.
I wonder what time he returned.
It must have been eight o’clock.
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8. 09/28/09
© and ® 2011 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.