Spanish · Chapter 25 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Si clauses: real and unreal conditions
The three conditionals - si + present for the likely, si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional for the hypothetical, si + pluperfect subjunctive + conditional perfect for the counterfactual - and the golden rule: never a conditional or present subjunctive straight after si.
The short version
No conditional ever follows si
One rule outranks everything else here: no conditional and no present subjunctive ever follows si. Si tendría and si tenga are both simply wrong, and English 'if I would have' is what plants the error. The si half of an unreal condition takes the imperfect subjunctive, and the -ría form waits in the result half.
Si tuviera dinero, viajaría por el mundo.
Spanish never says if it will rain
English happily says 'if it will rain'; Spanish never does. The if half of a real, open condition stays in the present indicative, and the future lives only in the result half. Each of the three types has its own fixed pairing, so match the box to how real the if actually is and the grammar becomes mechanical.
Si llueve, me quedaré en casa.
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