Conditional (hablarĂ­a): Higher only

SpanishAQAGCSEUnit: Time Frames
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The basics

Futuro vs Condicional — Side by Side

📚 Futuro vs Condicional — Side by Side

The conditional and the future share the same stems — but use completely different endings. The future endings are the forms of haber (-Ă©, -ĂĄs, -ĂĄ, -emos, -ĂĄn). The conditional endings all carry a written accent on the Ă­ and are identical for every verb: -Ă­a / -Ă­as / -Ă­a / -Ă­amos / -Ă­ais / -Ă­an.
Pronombre hablar — futuro hablar — condicional tener — futuro tener — condicional
yo hablaré hablaría tendré tendría
tĂș hablarĂĄs hablarĂ­as tendrĂĄs tendrĂ­as
Ă©l/ella hablarĂĄ hablarĂ­a tendrĂĄ tendrĂ­a
nosotros hablaremos hablarĂ­amos tendremos tendrĂ­amos
ellos/ellas hablarĂĄn hablarĂ­an tendrĂĄn tendrĂ­an

Same stem, different endings: future = -Ă© / -ĂĄs / -ĂĄ / -emos / -ĂĄn  |  conditional = -Ă­a / -Ă­as / -Ă­a / -Ă­amos / -Ă­ais / -Ă­an

⭐ Irregular stems — same as the future

The irregular stems are identical for the future and the conditional. Learn them once; apply the conditional endings to use them in both tenses.

Infinitivo Stem (future & conditional) Condicional yo
tenertendr-tendrĂ­a
poderpodr-podrĂ­a
quererquerr-querrĂ­a
hacerhar-harĂ­a
salirsaldr-saldrĂ­a
venirvendr-vendrĂ­a
ponerpondr-pondrĂ­a
sabersabr-sabrĂ­a
decirdir-dirĂ­a
Spotlight
Usos del condicional — Three Key Uses

The conditional has three main uses at GCSE. All three can appear in Paper 4 (writing) and Paper 2 (speaking) — and recognising them in Paper 3 (reading) and Paper 1 (listening) is also tested at Higher tier.

Exam tip

Earn the mark scheme marks

⚠ Common Conditional Mistakes

These two errors appear regularly in GCSE scripts. Knowing why they are wrong is as important as knowing the correct form.

❌ Error 1: Me gustarĂ­a que Ă©l fue al mercado.

✅ Correcto: Me gustarĂ­a que Ă©l fuera al mercado.

Why it costs marks: After me gustaría que, the next verb must use the imperfect subjunctive (fuera), not the preterite (fue). The preterite fue is a simple past statement of fact; fuera expresses a wish or hypothesis. At GCSE, recognising this distinction in reading and listening is sufficient — but writing fue after que clauses following the conditional will be penalised under AO3 (accuracy).

❌ Error 2: En el futuro seria mĂ©dico. (missing accent)

✅ Correcto: En el futuro serĂ­a mĂ©dico.

Why it costs marks: All conditional endings carry a written accent on the Ă­ — without exception: -Ă­a / -Ă­as / -Ă­a / -Ă­amos / -Ă­ais / -Ă­an. Omitting the accent changes the meaning entirely: seria (no accent) means serious (feminine adjective), while serĂ­a (with accent) means would be. An examiner reading En el futuro seria mĂ©dico sees "In the future, serious doctor" — a completely different and nonsensical sentence. Always write the accent.

Now try it yourself

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