Spanish · Chapter 11 · Lesson 12 · Grammar primer
The conditional tense
Would: hablaría, comería, viviría. Regular formation, the same irregular stems as the future, and how to use it for politeness.
The short version
One phrase that stops you sounding blunt
The conditional is the politeness tense. Swapping quiero for me gustaría lifts any shop, restaurant or formal exchange, and ¿podrías ayudarme? lands far softer than ¿puedes ayudarme? If you take one thing from the conditional, take me gustaría and use it every time you order something.
Me gustaría un café.
Not every English would is a conditional
English would does two jobs. When it means used to, a habit in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect: de niño, iba a la playa cada verano. When it means hypothetically would, Spanish uses the conditional: yo iría contigo si pudiera. Reach for iría in the habit slot and the meaning goes wrong.
De niño, iba a la playa cada verano.
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