¡Hola, amigos! In Spanish, conditional sentences, or oraciones condicionales, are important for discussing hypothetical situations and possibilities. They begin with si, which means “if” in English.
These sentences connect two scenarios, showing how one event depends on another. For example, “Si el tiempo está agradable, iremos a la playa” (“If the weather is nice, we will go to the beach“) illustrates how our beach trip relies on the weather.
To grasp conditional sentences, it’s essential to learn the specific grammatical rules that set them apart from other sentence types. There are three main types of conditional sentences in Spanish, each with a unique purpose. I, your teacher Martincho, will explain them clearly!
1. FUTURE EVENTS AS REAL POSSIBILITIES
When discussing future events likely to occur based on a condition, we typically use the present indicative after “si” (if) and the future indicative in the other clause:
SIMPLE PRESENT (INDICATIVE) + SIMPLE FUTURE (INDICATIVE)
Si Juana viene, compraré pizza.
If Juana comes, I will buy pizza.
2. A PRESENT THAT ISN’T HAPPENING OR A FUTURE THAT WON’T HAPPEN
When discussing a present that isn’t happening (or a future that won’t happen), we use the past subjunctive after “si” (if) and the simple conditional in the other clause:
IMPERFECT PAST (SUBJUNCTIVE) + SIMPLE CONDITIONAL (CONDITIONAL)
Si Juana viniera hoy, yo compraría pizza.
If Juana came today, I would buy pizza.
3. A PAST THAT DIDN’T TAKE PLACE
When discussing a past that didn’t happen, we use the compound past subjunctive after “si” (if) and the compound conditional in the other clause.
COMPOUND PAST (SUBJUNCTIVE) + COMPOUND CONDITIONAL (CONDITIONAL)
Si Juana hubiera venido, habría comprado pizza.
If Juana had come, I would have bought pizza.
It’s important to learn how to conjugate all these tenses, but if you’re not there yet, no worries! Below, you’ll find a couple of games to help you spot the right patterns.
GAME 1
GAME 2
