Learn about the Spanish conditional tense focusing on irregular verbs. This lesson explains how certain verbs change their roots—by removing vowels, adding consonants, or having unique irregular roots—and shows how to conjugate them with regular conditional endings. Examples include verbs like saber, hacer, tener, venir, querer, and decir. Understand the usage of the conditional to express desires, possibilities, and hypothetical scenarios with clear, practical examples.
- The irregular conditional changes the verb stem but adds the regular endings: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
| Grupo (Group) | Ejemplos de verbo (Verb examples) | Ejemplo de conjugación (Example of conjugation) |
|---|---|---|
| Eliminar vocal (Remove vowel) | Saber → sabr- Haber → habr- Hacer → har- | Ella sabría cuentas de hadas, estoy segura. (She would know fairy tales, I am sure.) |
| Añadir consonante (Add consonant) | Tener → tendr- Salir → saldr- Venir → vendr- | ¿Tú vendrías con nosotros a sacar la tarjeta de biblioteca? (Would you come with us to get the library card?) |
| Raíz irregular propia (Irregular stem) | Querer → querr- Poder → podr- Decir → dir- | Yo querría ir hoy a la sala de lectura. (I would like to go to the reading room today.) |
Exercise 1: Condicional: Los verbos irregulares
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
habría, Haría, diría, Saldríamos, Podrías, Pondría, Vendría, Sabrías
1.
Poner:
: ... este cuento en la sección infantil.
(I would put this story in the children's section.)
2.
Hacer:
: ... una lista de novelas para el verano.
(I would make a list of novels for the summer.)
3.
Poder:
: ... investigar más sobre ese escritor famoso.
(You could research more about that famous writer.)
4.
Haber:
: No ... tantos libros sin el catálogo digital.
(There wouldn't be so many books without the digital catalogue.)
5.
Venir:
: ... a la biblioteca cada semana si puedo.
(I would come to the library every week if I can.)
6.
Salir:
: ... de la librería con muchos cuentos nuevos.
(We would leave the bookshop with many new stories.)
7.
Decir:
: El bibliotecario ... dónde está la sala de lectura.
(The librarian would say where the reading room is.)
8.
Saber:
: ... más si leyeras literatura clásica
(You would know more if you read classical literature)
Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct option with conditional using irregular verbs in Spanish. Pay attention to the irregular root and endings. Correct the common mistakes that students usually make in this structure.
1.
Error: The irregular root of 'hacer' in conditional is 'har-', not 'hac-'.
Error: The ending '-ía' is repeated twice; the correct form is 'haría'.
2.
Error: The accent is missing on the ending '-ías' of the conditional.
Error: The infinitive 'venir' should not be used with conditional endings; you must use the irregular root 'vendr-'.
3.
Error: The noun must be plural 'cuentos' to match 'libro de cuentos'.
Error: The preposition 'a' should not be used after 'sabría' in this context.
4.
Error: 'Libro' must be plural 'libros' to agree with the verb and context.
Error: 'Tendremos' is in future tense; the sentence requires conditional to express hypothesis or possibility.
