Learn how to use the simple Spanish conditional verb tense, which is the equivalent of the English "could" and "would"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola a todos, ¿cómo están? Habla Dylan. |
| Carlos: What’s going on pod101 world? My name is Carlos. |
| Dylan: In this lesson, you will learn about the simple conditional. |
| Carlos: This conversation takes place in a home. |
| Dylan: The conversation is between Mónica, Carlos, his mother-in-law and father-in-law. |
| Carlos: The speakers are friends, so they will be speaking informally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mónica: Hola mamá. Mira, Carlos vino a cenar con nosotros. |
| Suegra: ¡No me digás! Hola Carlitos, ¿cómo estás? Saluda a tu suegro. |
| Suegro: Hola Carlos, pase adelante. |
| Carlos: Gracias, muy amables. |
| Suegra: Carlitos, antes de comer, ¡vamos a rezar! |
| Suegro: Mónica, creo que Carlos debería ir con nosotros a misa el domingo, así se acostumbra a nuestras tradiciones. |
| Mónica: Bueno papá, Carlos y yo lo vamos a hablar y después te doy una respuesta. Por ahora, mejor comamos. |
| Mónica: Hi, Mom. Look, Carlos came to have dinner with us. |
| Suegra: You don’t say! Hello, Carlitos. How are you? Say hello to your father-in-law. |
| Suegro: Hello, Carlos, come on in. |
| Carlos: Thank you, you're very kind. |
| Suegra: Carlitos, before we eat, let's pray! |
| Suegro: Mónica, I believe Carlos should go with us to mass on Sunday; that way, he can get used to our traditions. |
| Mónica: Okay, Dad. Carlos and I will talk about it and then I'll give you an answer. For now, we'd better eat. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Wooh… Carlos is put on the spot. |
| Carlos: Yeah. Carlos is being put in on the spot then it’s very obvious. You imagine. Well, this guy is obviously not from the culture if he has to learn the traditions. |
| Dylan: That’s true. |
| Carlos: He is like me. He is… |
| Dylan: Hey and his name is Carlos. |
| Carlos: A Latin Gringo who said we are not autobiographical on spanishpod101.com. Now let me tell you. My – speaking of which and we will get into this with “suegra”. Why is… |
| Dylan: “Suegra”. |
| Carlos: Why is my girlfriend’s mother called “suegra” if she is my girlfriend and not my wife. |
| Dylan: It’s – what else you want to call it. She is not your friend. |
| Carlos: No… |
| Dylan: And you just want to say it. |
| Carlos: Doña Ruth. |
| Dylan: Yeah, she could be “Doña Ruth”, yeah. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Dylan: “La mamá de mi novia”. “The mother of my girlfriend.” |
| Carlos: Yeah. My mother got pissed off when I kind of said so and she is like, I am not her mother in law. It was like “oh, mom!” |
| Dylan: They were talking about different traditions. |
| Carlos: We were – that’s the New York Puerto Rican for you. |
| Dylan: Very good. |
| Carlos: Okay guys, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Cenar”. |
| Carlos: “To have dinner”, “to have supper.” |
| Dylan: “Ce-nar”, “cenar”. “Suegro”, “suegra”. |
| Carlos: “Mother-in-law”, “father-in-law.” |
| Dylan: “Sue-gro”, “sue-gra”, “suegro”, “suegra”. “Adelante”. |
| Carlos: “Forward.” |
| Dylan: “A-de-lan-te”, “adelante”. “Rezar”. |
| Carlos: “To pray.” |
| Dylan: “Re-zar”, “rezar”. “Misa”. |
| Carlos: “Mass.” |
| Dylan: “Mi-sa”, “misa”. “Respuesta”. |
| Carlos: “Answer”, “response”, “reply.” |
| Dylan: “Res-pues-ta”, “respuesta”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “cenar”. |
| Carlos: “Cenar”. “To eat dinner”, “to eat supper” or a little more fashionable, “to do dinner.” |
| Dylan: That is my favorite meal of the day. |
| Carlos: Mine too although it isn’t that much I had at breakfast. |
| Dylan: You know what’s the best? |
| Carlos: What? |
| Dylan: Breakfast for dinner. |
| Carlos: That is actually the best. Pancakes in the PM. |
| Dylan: But I don’t think that Monica’s family is going to have any kind of breakfast for dinner. |
| Carlos: No, no, not at all, because she is bringing her boyfriend and if he is bringing her to dinner, it’s not a small thing. |
| Dylan: “Hola mamá. Mira, Carlos vino a cenar con nosotros”. |
| Carlos: “Hi mom. Look, Carlos came to have dinner with us.” |
| Dylan: Have you had dinner at your girlfriend’s house yet? |
| Carlos: Yes, I have. Voy a cenar con la familia de mi novia cada viernes en la noche. |
| Dylan: You go eat dinner every Friday with your girlfriend’s family. That is dedicated. |
| Carlos: What can I say? Family is important and I am kind of lonely. |
| Dylan: Ah well, now we know that the verb “cenar” is roughly to do dinner. |
| Carlos: The other meals are “desayunar” and… |
| Dylan: “Desayunar”. |
| Carlos: Ah, thank you for the correction, “desayunar” and “almorzar”. It’s more commonly here probably more sarcastically now but not unknown to hear someone say, let’s do lunch. |
| Dylan: Next up, “suegro”, “suegra”. |
| Carlos: “Father-in-law”, “mother-in-law.” Now Dylan, here is where I have some confusion. |
| Dylan: And what confusion is that? |
| Carlos: Actually confusion you already just answered. So I don’t really have confusion anymore. I will just refer to her as “Doña Ruth” and not my “suegra”. |
| Dylan: That’s normal but don’t take it too seriously, Carlos. It still applies to your mother-in-law just in a lesser degree in your case. |
| Carlos: Okay, because when I was to refer to my mom as “suegra” once again, she wasn’t happy. |
| Dylan: You know, “suegra” sounds so like matronly and that’s probably what bothered your mom. It made her feel older and your mom is just as young, beautiful lady. So… |
| Carlos: Oh yeah, she is, thank you, but my girlfriend’s mom is 71 years old. |
| Dylan: Woo…So who is your girlfriend? Now let’s listen to the conversation though it just doesn’t apply to women. |
| Carlos: “Saluda a tu suegro”. |
| Dylan: “Say hello to your father-in-law.” Now if that doesn’t put the pressure on, I don’t know what does. |
| Carlos: I met my “suegro” for the first time last week. |
| Dylan: Oh yeah, ¿cómo se llama? |
| Carlos: El padre de mi novia... |
| Dylan: El padre... |
| Carlos: “El padre de mi novia, mi suegro, se llama León”. |
| Dylan: “My girlfriend’s father, my father-in-law, his name is León.” I like that name. |
| Carlos: Me too, strong name. |
| Dylan: Have you ever heard the word “el yerno”? |
| Carlos: No, actually I can’t say that I have. |
| Dylan: Well, that’s what you are. “El yerno” is “the son-in-law.” |
| Carlos: And how do we say “daughter-in-law”? |
| Dylan: That would be “la nuera”. |
| Carlos: Ah okay, that’s a new word altogether. |
| Dylan: Well, next up let’s look at an adverb. |
| Carlos: Which? |
| Dylan: “Adelante”. |
| Carlos: “Adelante”, “forward.” |
| Dylan: Or in this sense, “come on in.” |
| Carlos: You are telling me… Are you telling me they don’t just use that in stores? |
| Dylan: That’s exactly what I am saying. Although that’s going to be one of the most common usages you are going to hear. |
| Carlos: “Hola Carlos, pase adelante”. |
| Dylan: “Hello Carlos, come on in.” |
| Carlos: It’s always weird for me to hear my own name when I say it. |
| Dylan: It’s like that for everyone I think. That’s why I also don’t like listening to my self-record. |
| Carlos: Actually I was learning a new dance move the other day. |
| Dylan: Yeah. |
| Carlos: Yeah, Montse knows the dance “tango”. |
| Dylan: Uhh, nice. |
| Carlos: And she was showing me, “dé un paso adelante y otro atrás”. |
| Dylan: “Do one step forward and another backward.” I think that is fundamental in all dance moves. |
| Carlos: Probably. |
| Dylan: Now do you remember the verb from “adelante”? |
| Carlos: That would be “adelantar”, “to advance.” |
| Dylan: So let’s take that clue and advance. Next up, “rezar”. |
| Carlos: Another verb. This one is on the top of my tongue. |
| Dylan: Is your girlfriend catholic? |
| Carlos: Is the pope? |
| Dylan: That should give you enough of a clue then. |
| Carlos: Right, “to pray.” |
| Dylan: Exactly which is what they are doing. They are praying saying grace. You know that if that is going on, you are part of a traditional family. |
| Carlos: True. |
| Dylan: “Mi abuelita rezó mucho”. |
| Carlos: “My grandmother prays a lot” too. |
| Dylan: Now if you wanted to mention the noun, the prayer, guess what it would be? |
| Carlos: “El rezo”. |
| Dylan: Exactly. Now our next word also has to do with prayer. |
| Carlos: “Iglesia”? “Church.” |
| Dylan: No, but you are close. |
| Carlos: Okay, well, you have to help me out then. |
| Dylan: “Misa”. |
| Carlos: Oh, “misa”, a noun that means “mass”, right? |
| Dylan: Exactly and you know that Carlos is in some sort of trouble. |
| Carlos: Why? |
| Dylan: Well, listen to what the father-in-law says, “Mónica, creo que Carlos debería ir con nosotros a misa el domingo, así se acostumbra a nuestras tradiciones”. |
| Carlos: “Monica, I believe Carlos should go with us to Mass on Sunday. That way he can get used to our traditions.” Oh god! Getting to know traditions is never easy. |
| Dylan: Nope. It looks like Carlos is going to have to get used to some new things. |
| Carlos: That’s right. This other Carlos that I have no idea who this person is. |
| Dylan: What? |
| Carlos: It’s a bit coincidence though. |
| Dylan: What! |
| Carlos: “Ayer fui a una misa en la iglesia de San José”. “Yesterday I went to a Mass in the Church of San José.” |
| Dylan: And how was that? |
| Carlos: A lot of praying, a lot of kneeling and standing up. |
| Dylan: That’s usually how catholic masses go. |
| Carlos: Now the priest is called “padre”, right? |
| Dylan: That’s right. |
| Carlos: But like what’s the actual word for “priest.” I know it’s a different one. |
| Dylan: You know, you don’t actually hear this often. It is “el sacerdote”. |
| Carlos: “El sacerdote”. Check, now I can impress my “suegra” next time I go to mass. |
| Dylan: That will be good. Okay, last but not least, “respuesta”. |
| Carlos: Another noun. We reckoned them up. |
| Dylan: “Respuesta”, “the answer.” Monica is buying Carlos some time. |
| Carlos: How so? |
| Dylan: When she says “Bueno papá, Carlos y yo lo vamos a hablar y después te doy una respuesta. Por ahora, mejor comamos”. |
| Carlos: “Okay dad, Carlos and I will talk about it and then I will give you an answer. For now, we better eat.” |
| Dylan: Good save. |
| Carlos: Definitely, but I think that it’s good that she said something and not him. |
| Dylan: Right and his place is just a smile and nod. |
| Carlos: That’s the truth. Dylan, usted siempre tiene una buena respuesta para todo. |
| Dylan: Oh thanks, Carlos. I try to have a good answer for everything. |
| Carlos: While you succeed. |
| Dylan: But you need to ask the right “preguntas”, “questions.” |
| Carlos: And then we can use the verb “responder”. |
| Dylan: “To respond”, exactly. |
| Carlos: Now grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dylan: Grammar. We are going to look at formation of the conditional tense. |
| Carlos: The conditional tense by the way is formed with the endings “ía”, “ías” and “ía” in the singular and with “íamos”, “íais” and “ían” in the plural of regular “ar”, “er” and “ir” verbs. |
| Dylan: All of them, which makes it a bit easier. |
| Carlos: Hey Dylan, you know, Ian was supposed to be my name. That’s what my mom wanted to name me. |
| Dylan: Ian? |
| Carlos: Ian. |
| Dylan: I love that name. |
| Carlos: What is it with you? I mean to be named Ian. It’s actually my favorite tense by the way, this is. It’s what I began to recognize more and more without studying really because they have the same endings. But Dylan, what is the conditional tense used for? I mean that’s a different story altogether. |
| Dylan: Well, the conditional is used to one, express a future time in the past. Two, to indicate a conjecture or possibility. Three, to show the softening of a statement and four, to show something hypothetic. The conditional tense is generally translated with the infinitive verb following either the modal verb “would” or “could.” Thus “yo pensaría” means “I would think” or I “could think.” Now let’s consider the formation. |
| Carlos: First let’s do the singular. |
| Dylan: “Yo hablaría”. |
| Carlos: “I would speak.” |
| Dylan: “Tú hablarías”. |
| Carlos: “You would speak.” |
| Dylan: “Él hablaría”. |
| Carlos: “He would speak.” |
| Dylan: “Ella hablaría”. |
| Carlos: “She would speak.” |
| Dylan: “Usted hablaría”. |
| Carlos: “You would speak”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Hablaría”. |
| Carlos: “It would speak”, neuter. Now let’s check out the plural. |
| Dylan: “Nosotros hablaríamos”. |
| Carlos: “We would speak.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros hablaríais”. |
| Carlos: “You all would speak”, informal. |
| Dylan: “Ellos hablarían”. |
| Carlos: “They would speak”, masculine. |
| Dylan: “Ellas hablarían”. |
| Carlos: “They would speak”, feminine. |
| Dylan: “Ustedes hablarían”. |
| Carlos: “You all would speak”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Hablarían”. |
| Carlos: “They would speak”, neuter. Now let’s check out the verb “volver”, “to return.” |
| Dylan: “Yo volvería”. |
| Carlos: “I would return.” |
| Dylan: “Tú volverías”. |
| Carlos: “You would return.” |
| Dylan: “Él volvería”. |
| Carlos: “He would return.” |
| Dylan: “Ella volvería”. |
| Carlos: “She would return.” |
| Dylan: “Usted volvería”. |
| Carlos: “You would return”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Volvería”. |
| Carlos: “It would return”, neuter. |
| Dylan: “Nosotros volveríamos”. |
| Carlos: “We would return.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros volveríais”. |
| Carlos: “You all would return”, informal. |
| Dylan: “Ellos volverían”. |
| Carlos: “They would return”, masculine. |
| Dylan: “Ellas volverían”. |
| Carlos: “They would return”, feminine. |
| Dylan: “Ustedes volverían”. |
| Carlos: “You all would return”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Volverían”. |
| Carlos: “They would return”, neuter. Notice this is awesome, all the same endings. Next up an “ir” verb, “sufrir”, “to suffer.” |
| Dylan: “Yo sufriría”. |
| Carlos: “I would suffer.” |
| Dylan: “Tú sufrirías”. |
| Carlos: “You would suffer.” |
| Dylan: “Él sufriría”. |
| Carlos: “He would suffer.” |
| Dylan: “Ella sufriría”. |
| Carlos: “She would suffer.” |
| Dylan: “Usted sufriría”. |
| Carlos: “You would suffer”, formal. Being serious. |
| Dylan: “Sufriría”. |
| Carlos: “It would suffer”, neuter. |
| Dylan: “Nosotros sufriríamos”. |
| Carlos: “We would suffer”, that’s not good. |
| Dylan: “Vosotros sufriríais”. |
| Carlos: You all would suffer informal. |
| Dylan: “Ellos sufrirían”. |
| Carlos: “They would suffer”, masculine. |
| Dylan: “Ellas sufrirían”. |
| Carlos: “They would suffer”, feminine. |
| Dylan: “Ustedes sufrirían”. |
| Carlos: “You all would suffer”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Sufrirían”. |
| Carlos: “They would suffer”, neuter. Now let’s check out some example sentences, Dylan. |
| Dylan: “Yo volvería temprano, te prometo”. |
| Carlos: “I would return early, I promise.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros hablaríamos contigo”. |
| Carlos: “We would talk with you.” |
| Dylan: “¿Hablaríais con él?” |
| Carlos: “Could you all speak to him?” |
| Dylan: “Sufrirían por mucho tiempo”. |
| Carlos: “They would suffer for a long time.” |
| Dylan: Or we can look at the example from our conversation. “Mónica, creo que Carlos debería ir con nosotros a misa el domingo, así se acostumbra a nuestras tradiciones”. |
| Carlos: “Monica, I believe Carlos should come with us to mass on Sunday. In that way, he can get used to our traditions.” |
| Dylan: The conditional tense is a future tense. Clearly, it’s not the absolute future. |
| Carlos: Clearly. |
| Dylan: Clearly, it’s not the absolute future. |
| Carlos: Oh, clearly. |
| Dylan: For example, “hablarás”, “you will speak”, but it expresses future time within certain conditions. |
| Carlos: Right. Think of the difference between saying “I would drink some wine” and “I will drink some wine.” The first which is the conditional expresses the hypothesis which means I would drink some wine if you would pour me less. |
| Dylan: When the conditional expresses the hypothesis, it’s contained in the consequent clause of the conditional statement. In the anteceding clause which is the if clause we often use a verb form in the subjunctive mood which we will look at in the future lesson. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Okay guys, that’s our cue and that just about does it for today. |
| Dylan: Hasta luego, amigos. |
| Carlos: Nos vemos, ¡chao! |
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