The Spanish Conditional: "would" for polite requests, advice and daydreams

Three lessons on the conditional forms, deberías-style advice and the si tuviera… sentences that make Spanish sound thoughtful rather than blunt.

Quick answer. The Spanish conditional is the "would" form: add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían to the whole infinitive (hablaría, comería, viviría), with the same irregular stems as the future (tendría, haría, podría, diría). Use it for polite requests (¿podría ayudarme?), advice (deberías descansar) and what would happen under some condition (si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más). When English "would" means "used to", Spanish uses the imperfect instead.

The Spanish conditional: what it's for
Use	Spanish	English
Polite request	¿Podría traerme la cuenta?	Could you bring me the bill?
Polite wish	Me gustaría una mesa para dos.	I'd like a table for two.
Advice	Deberías hablar con ella.	You should talk to her.
Hypothetical (with si + imperfect subjunctive)	Si tuviera dinero, compraría una casa.	If I had money, I'd buy a house.
If I were you	Yo que tú, no lo haría.	If I were you, I wouldn't do it.
Reported future	Dijo que vendría.	She said she would come.
Guess about the past	Serían las diez.	It was probably about ten.

The conditional is Spanish for "would". It is built by adding one set of endings (-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían) to the whole infinitive: hablaría, comería, viviría: with a dozen irregular stems shared with the future tense (tendría, haría, podría, saldría, diría, querría). In everyday speech it does three jobs: it softens requests (¿podría ayudarme? instead of ¿puede?), it gives advice (deberías descansar), and it describes hypotheticals, what you would do if (si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más).

The forms are easy; the traps are elsewhere. English "would" also means "used to" (we would go every summer), which in Spanish is the imperfect, not the conditional. The hypothetical si sentence needs the imperfect subjunctive in the si clause and the conditional in the other half, and learners routinely put the conditional in both or the present in both. And politeness in Latin American Spanish leans on the conditional far more than beginners realise, so a learner who never uses it sounds more abrupt than they intend.

Juntos teaches the forms, then deberías advice, then the si tuviera… pattern, each with exercises. The practice that matters happens in the AI tutor: scenarios like the pharmacy, the bank and the phone booking are natural places for polite conditionals, and the friendly debate pulls out hypotheticals. Every message is scored 0–100 with the native-speaker version shown, and the AI Call mode lets you practise saying ¿podría…? out loud at conversational speed.

What's in this course

Would: the forms, viviría, me gustaría, infinitive + -ía
Advice: deberías, You should… coaching your friends
Daydreams: si tuviera…, If I had… I would… (starter hypotheticals)

Each lesson below is the same material used inside the Juntos app, with two of its exercises to try. In the app every lesson has the full exercise set, and the AI tutor grades your conversation practice against what you have learned.

Lesson 1: Would: the forms

viviría, me gustaría, infinitive + -ía

The politest tense 🎩

Take the whole infinitive and add -ía endings, same for -ar, -er, -ir:

	hablar	vivir
yo	hablaría	viviría
tú	hablarías	vivirías
él/ella	hablaría	viviría
nosotros	hablaríamos	viviríamos
ellos	hablarían	vivirían

Twelve irregular stems (same as future): tener → tendría, hacer → haría, poder → podría, salir → saldría, decir → diría, haber → habría.

You already use one: Me gustaría un café: I would like a coffee. (And its posher cousin quisiera.)

Try it

Me ___ (gustar) vivir cerca de la playa.

I would like to live near the beach.

Show answer

gustaría · gustar + ía → gustaría.

¿___ (poder, tú) ayudarme con esto?

Could you help me with this?

Podrías
Poderías
Puedas

Show answer

Podrías · Irregular stem podr- → podrías. Super polite ask.

Lesson 2: Advice: deberías

You should… coaching your friends

Free advice, politely 🧭

Deberías + inf: you should. Deberías probar el ceviche.
Podrías + inf: you could. Podrías tomar el bus de las 8.
Yo que tú…: if I were you…. Yo que tú, llegaría temprano.
¿No sería mejor…? wouldn't it be better…?

Softness ladder: Debes ir (you must) → Deberías ir (you should) → Podrías ir (you could). The conditional keeps friendships intact.

Try it

___ (deber, tú) descansar más, trabajas demasiado.

You should rest more, you work too much.

Show answer

Deberías · Advice → deberías.

Yo que tú, ___ el hotel con anticipación.

If I were you, I'd book the hotel in advance.

reservaría
reservaré
reservo

Show answer

reservaría · 'Yo que tú' + conditional: reservaría.

Lesson 3: Daydreams: si tuviera…

If I had… I would… (starter hypotheticals)

Castle-in-the-air grammar 🏰

The classic daydream: si + past subjunctive, + conditional. Learn these frames as chunks:

Si tuviera más tiempo, viajaría más. If I had more time, I'd travel more.
Si fuera rico, viviría en la playa. If I were rich…
Si pudiera, me quedaría aquí. If I could, I'd stay here.

Real-and-likely "if" stays normal: Si llueve, vamos en taxi. (If it rains, we'll take a taxi.) Only daydreams get the fancy forms.

Try it

Si ___ rico, compraría una casa en la playa.

If I were rich, I'd buy a beach house.

soy
fuera
sería

Show answer

fuera · Daydream 'if' → si fuera.

Si tuviera tiempo, ___ más países.

If I had time, I'd visit more countries.

visitaría
visitaré
visito

Show answer

visitaría · The result half takes conditional: visitaría.

This course is free. Want it graded in conversation?

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Questions people ask

How do you say 'if I were you' in Spanish?

Yo que tú or yo en tu lugar, followed by the conditional: yo que tú, llamaría mañana. The full form, si yo fuera tú, is also correct.

Is it 'si tendría' or 'si tuviera'?

Si tuviera. In a hypothetical, the si clause takes the imperfect subjunctive and the conditional goes in the other half: si tuviera tiempo, iría. Si tendría is a common mistake and is considered incorrect in standard Spanish.

Podría or puede: which is more polite?

Podría. ¿Podría ayudarme? softens the request the way 'could you' does in English. ¿Me puede ayudar? is still polite with usted, just a little more direct.

How do you say 'I would like' in Spanish?

Me gustaría: me gustaría un café, me gustaría saber más. It is a softer alternative to quiero when ordering or asking for something.

Why isn't 'we would go to the beach every summer' the conditional?

Because that 'would' means 'used to', a past habit, which Spanish expresses with the imperfect: íbamos a la playa cada verano. The conditional is only for the hypothetical 'would'.