The conditional compound tense (el condicional compuesto), also known as conditional perfect (condicional perfecto), describes a hypothetical action that would have happened in the past but didn't. It's often used in 'if' clauses.
When to use it
Hypothetical past actions
Si hubiera sabido, habría venido
If I had known, I would have come
Conjecture or probability about a past event
En ese momento, él ya se habría ido
At that moment, he probably had already left
Regular endings
| -ar | -er | -ir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | habría + -ado | habría + -ido | habría + -ido |
| tú | habrías + -ado | habrías + -ido | habrías + -ido |
| él | habría + -ado | habría + -ido | habría + -ido |
| nos. | habríamos + -ado | habríamos + -ido | habríamos + -ido |
| vos. | habríais + -ado | habríais + -ido | habríais + -ido |
| ellos | habrían + -ado | habrían + -ido | habrían + -ido |
Irregular verbs
Irregular Stem
Spelling Change: Written Accent on ‑ído
Frequently asked
The conditional compound tense (el condicional compuesto), also known as conditional perfect (condicional perfecto), describes a hypothetical action that would have happened in the past but didn't. It's often used in 'if' clauses. The main cases are hypothetical past actions and conjecture or probability about a past event. For example: Si hubiera sabido, habría venido — If I had known, I would have come.
Regular verbs take: -ar: yo habría + -ado, tú habrías + -ado, él habría + -ado, nos. habríamos + -ado, vos. habríais + -ado, ellos habrían + -ado; -er: yo habría + -ido, tú habrías + -ido, él habría + -ido, nos. habríamos + -ido, vos. habríais + -ido, ellos habrían + -ido; -ir: yo habría + -ido, tú habrías + -ido, él habría + -ido, nos. habríamos + -ido, vos. habríais + -ido, ellos habrían + -ido.
The most common ones are ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder, decir, haber and ir. Each has its own conjugation table with the full set of forms.
The condicional compuesto sits at B2 — Upper Intermediate, and Verboteca practice is free at A1. The rule, the tables and the examples on this page stay readable without a subscription or an account.
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