In this review lesson, we’ll revisit the Future and Conditional tenses in Spanish, focusing on how to conjugate regular verbs and identifying common irregular stems. Both tenses share the same irregular stems, making it easier to learn them together. The future tense is used to describe actions that will happen, while the conditional tense describes actions that would happen under certain conditions.
Conjugation of Regular Verbs in the Future Tense:
The future tense is formed by adding specific endings to the infinitive form of the verb. These endings are consistent across -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.
Yo | - é | Nosotros | - emos |
Tú (Juana, Juan) | - ás | Vosotros (informal Spain) | - éis |
Él/Ella/Ud. (Sra./Dr. García) | - á | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | - án |
Example:
Conjugation of Regular Verbs in the Conditional Tense:
The conditional tense is formed by adding specific endings to the infinitive form of the verb, just like the future tense. These endings are also consistent across -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.
Yo | - ía | Nosotros | - íamos |
Tú (Juana, Juan) | - ías | Vosotros (informal Spain) | - íais |
Él/Ella/Ud. (Sra./Dr. García) | - ía | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | - ían |
Example:
Some verbs have irregular stems in both the future and conditional tenses. However, the endings remain the same as those for regular verbs. Below is a table showing common verbs with irregular stems, which are used in both tenses.
| Verb | Irregular Stem | Future Tense Example | Conditional Tense Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decir (to say, to tell) | dir- | yo diré (I will say) | yo diría (I would say) |
| Hacer (to do, to make) | har- | yo haré (I will do) | yo haría (I would do) |
| Poder (to be able to) | podr- | yo podré (I will be able to) | yo podría (I would be able to) |
| Poner (to put, to place) | pondr- | yo pondré (I will put) | yo pondría (I would put) |
| Tener (to have) | tendr- | yo tendré (I will have) | yo tendría (I would have) |
| Venir (to come) | vendr- | yo vendré (I will come) | yo vendría (I would come) |
| Salir (to leave, to go out) | saldr- | yo saldré (I will leave) | yo saldría (I would leave) |
| Saber (to know) | sabr- | yo sabré (I will know) | yo sabría (I would know) |
| Querer (to want) | querr- | yo querré (I will want) | yo querría (I would want) |
| Haber (to have – auxiliary verb) | habr- | habrá un problema (there will be a problem) | habría un problema (there would be a problem) |
| Caber (to fit) | cabr- | yo cabré (I will fit) | yo cabría (I would fit) |
| Valer (to be worth) | valdr- | yo valdré (I will be worth) | yo valdría (I would be worth) |
Both the future and conditional tenses in Spanish share the same irregular stems, which simplifies learning them together. The future tense is used to express what will happen, while the conditional tense is used to express what would happen under certain conditions. By practicing these forms and understanding the shared irregular stems, you’ll be able to confidently discuss future possibilities and hypothetical scenarios in Spanish!