Definition of Conditional Mode

Verb forms, in addition to person, number and time, also have a mode. The mode indicates the type of information that is transmitted. On Castilian it is necessary to distinguish four modes: indicative, subjunctive, imperative and conditional.

The indicative mood is used to describe real facts (my friend eats very little). The subjunctive to express doubts or hypothetical situations (it is possible that my son will come). The imperative expresses some kind of order (stop smoking). Finally, the conditional is related to uncertain situations.

The most frequent uses of the simple conditional

The conditional expresses a possible or desirable future. To build it, add the ending "ia" to the verb correspondent. Thus, I would walk is the conditional of walking, I would eat to eat and I would come back. This is the rule general, but there are some exceptions (for example, the conditional of “have” is not “would have” but “would have”).

The ending “ia” of the conditional can cause confusion, as it is similar to

preterite imperfect. However, they are two different verb forms, since the conditional expresses a future situation and the past imperfect indicates a past situation (for example, in the verb to return the conditional is would return and the past imperfect is I returned to).

The conditional is normally used to express some wish in relation to the future (for example, "I would like to see you next week" or "I would like to arrive before eleven o'clock").

You can also express a need or a obligation that can be postponed (for example, "tonight I would have to go to dinner").

Sometimes it is used to make requests in a way nice (for example, "Could you tell me what time it is?" or "Would you mind bringing the sugar over to me?").

It is also used to make suggestions or warnings (for example, I would study a little more or take the advice you were given more seriously instead).

The compound conditional

The conditional mode can also be presented in a compound form. For this, the verb have in conditional plus the past participle of the verb is used as an auxiliary. Thus, "I would have spoken", "he would have drank" or "we would have put" would be illustrative examples of the compound conditional.

In any case, this time is used to indicate a previous action (for example, "I am convinced that I would have come if I had known").

Photos: Fotolia - MarkoVS87 / Denisismagilov

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