In English the conditional mood is formed by the word “would”, e.g. “I would do, I would speak”, but in Spanish it is formed by endings.
There is not difference between –AR, -ER, -IR verbs in the conditional mood. All verbs, including irregular ones, have stems the same as in the future tense.
OLVIDAR – to forget
| YO OLVIDARÍA | I would forget |
| TÚ OLVIDARÍAS | You would forget |
| ÉL, ELLA, USTED OLVIDARÍA | He, she, You would forget |
| NOSOTROS OLVIDARÍAMOS | We would forget |
| VOSOTROS OLVIDARÍAIS | You would forget |
| ELLOS, USTEDES OLVIDARÍAN | They, You would forget |
Example of an irregular verb, as it was said before – the stem is the same as in future tense.
PONER – to put. In the future tense this verb is irregular and has the stem PONDR-
| YO PONDRÍA | I would put |
| TÚ PONDRÍAS | You would put |
| ÉL, ELLA, USTED PONDRÍA | He, she, You would put |
| NOSOTROS PODRÍAMOS | We would put |
| VOSOTROS PODRÍAIS | You would put |
| ELLOS, USTEDES PODRÍAN | They, You would put |
Conjugate these verbs
Incluir – to include, Servir – to serve, Reconocer – recognize, Correr – to run, Pagar – to pay (for), Aceptar – to accept, Asegurarse – to make sure, Acordarse – to remember, Sufrir – to suffer, Participar – to participate, Emplear – to employ.
Examples
¿Memorizarías el poema? – would you memorize this poem?
¿Dibujaría algunas illustraciónes para mi libro? – would you(usted) write some illustrations for my book?
¿Cómo lo dirías en inglés? – how would you say that in English?
Yo compraría un nuevo teléfono pero no tengo mucho dinero – I would buy a new phone, but I don’t have much money
Degrees of comparison
In English, one can say “beautiful, more beautiful, the most beautiful” – these are degrees of comparison of the word “beautiful”. In Spanish we can say so too.
Let’s start from irregulars.
First of all, memorize these two words: BUENO – good, and MAL – bad, because these two words have own irregular degrees of comparison in all (or almost all) languages, including Spanish:
| BUENO – good | MEJOR – better | EL/LA MEJOR – the best |
| MALO – bad | PEOR – worse | EL/LA PEOR – the worst |
Also, these are a little bit more irregulars:
| PEQUEÑO little | MENOR less | EL/LA MENOR the least |
| JOVEN young | MENOR younger | EL/LA MENOR the youngest |
| VIEJO old | MAYOR older | EL/LA MAYOR the oldest |
And all other adjectives are declined with the word MÁS – more.
| BONITO(m) BONITA(f) beautiful | MÁS BONITO MÁS BONITA more beautiful | EL MÁS BONITO LA MÁS BONITA the most beautiful |
| GRANDE big | MÁS GRANDE bigger | EL/LA MÁS GRANDE the biggest |
| FUERTE strong | MÁS FUERTE stronger | EL/LA MÁS FUERTE the strongest |
Examples
Su Hermana es mayor que la mía – his sister is older than mine
Esta cámara es más costosa que esa – this camera is more expensive than that one
El edificio más alto está en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos – the highest building is (located) in the United Arab Emirates
El inglés es más facíl que el español – English is easier than Spanish
Exercises
Conjugate a verbs in conditional mood
- ¿Qué tú en esta situación? (HACER – to do) – What would you do in this situation?
- ¿Me en este traje? (RECONOCER – to recognize) – Would you recognize me in this suit?
- ¿Cuánto usted por este apartamento? (PAGAR – to pay) – How much would You pay for this apartment?
- ¿Cuánto ella en esa tienda? (GASTAR – to spend) – How much would she spend in that store?
- Ellos nuestras decisiónes (ACCEPTAR – to accept) – They would accept our decisions
Use appropriate degree of comparison
- Mi hija es que su hijo (ALTO – tall) – My daughter is taller than his son
- ¿Cuál es de los dos? (BUENO – good) – Which one is better of the two?
- ¿Cuáles naranjas son ? (SABROSO – tasty) – Which oranges are the most tasty?
- ¿Quién de ustedes es ? (JOVEN – young) – Which (who) of you is the youngest?
- Sobre los trenes, es viajar por trenes separados que por los directos (BARATO – cheap) – What about the trains, it is cheaper to travel by separate trains than direct ones.
Answers
a: harías, b: reconocerías, c: pagaría, d: gastaría,
e: aceptarían, f: más alta, g: mejor, h: las más sabrosas,
i: el menor, j: más barato