Conditional Clauses in Spanish - A Brief (-ish) Summary

There are two types of conditional clauses used in Spanish:

1. Clauses in which we talk about reality and possibility take the indicative

• si + present indicative + future indicative
• si + present indicative + present indicative
• si + preterite + preterite

Examples

Si salgo temprano, llegaré a tiempo
If I leave early, I will arrive on time
Si salgo temprano, llego a tiempo
If I leave early, I arrive on time


Si estudio, lo entenderé
If I study, I will understand it
Si estudio, lo entiendo
If I study, I understand it

Si lo vi, no lo reconocí
If I saw him (or 'did see'), I didn't recognise him

2. Hypothetical clauses, clauses which are contrary to reality and never happened, take past forms of the subjunctive

• si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional
• si + pluperfect subjunctive + conditional perfect

Si tuviera más dinero, iría a España.
If I had more money, I would go to Spain.

Si tuviera más tiempo, leería más.
If I had more time, I would read more.
Si hubiera tenido más tiempo, habría leído mas.
If I had had more time, I would have read more.

Si estuviera en España, comería paella.
If I were in Spain, I would eat paella.

Si estuviera allí, podría verlo.
If I were there, I would be able to see it.
Si hubiera estado allí, habría podido verlo.
If I had been there, I would have been able to see it.

Si tú fueses yo, ¿lo harías?
If you were I , would you do it? (N.B. "If you were I" sounds strange to many people. Some people would say "If you were me")

Si lo comprases, no lo usarías.
If you bought it, you wouldn't use it.
Si lo hubieras comprado, no lo habrías usado.
If you had bought it, you wouldn't have used it.

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