Module 8 · Future, Conditional & Subjunctive

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The Simple Future — Two Ways to Express It

Spanish has two ways to talk about the future. The informal way is more common in everyday speech:

IR + A + INFINITIVE (informal, most common)

Voy a estudiar. — I'm going to study.

Vas a comer. — You're going to eat.

Vamos a viajar. — We're going to travel.

SIMPLE FUTURE (formal, predictions)

Estudiaré. — I will study.

Comerás. — You will eat.

Viajaremos. — We will travel.

Rule of thumb: Use ir + a + infinitive for near-future plans ("I'm going to..."). Use the simple future for predictions, promises, and formal contexts ("It will rain tomorrow").

Simple Future — Regular Conjugation

The future is the easiest tense to conjugate — add the endings directly to the full infinitive (no need to drop -ar/-er/-ir!):

Person	Ending	hablar	comer	vivir
yo	-é	hablaré	comeré	viviré
tú	-ás	hablarás	comerás	vivirás
él/ella	-á	hablará	comerá	vivirá
nosotros	-emos	hablaremos	comeremos	viviremos
ellos	-án	hablarán	comerán	vivirán

Same endings for ALL verb types! -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs use the exact same future endings. Just attach them to the full infinitive.

Future Irregular Stems — The Dirty Dozen

Only 12 verbs have irregular stems in the future. The endings stay the same — only the stem changes:

Infinitive	Irregular stem	Yo form	English
tener	tendr-	tendré	I will have
venir	vendr-	vendré	I will come
poner	pondr-	pondré	I will put
salir	saldr-	saldré	I will go out
valer	valdr-	valdré	I will be worth
poder	podr-	podré	I will be able
saber	sabr-	sabré	I will know
querer	querr-	querré	I will want
haber	habr-	habré	I will have (aux)
hacer	har-	haré	I will do/make
decir	dir-	diré	I will say
caber	cabr-	cabré	I will fit

Memory trick: Group them by pattern — drop vowel + dr (tendr, vendr, pondr, saldr, valdr), drop vowel + r (podr, sabr, querr, habr), and completely new (har, dir, cabr).

"Mañana haré la tarea" means...?

The Conditional — "Would" in Spanish

The conditional expresses what would happen, what you would do, or what would be nice. It's the tense of politeness, advice, and hypothetical situations.

Use the conditional for: Polite requests ("Would you...?"), advice ("I would..."), wishes ("It would be nice"), hypotheticals ("If I had money, I would travel").

Conditional — Conjugation (Same Stems as Future!)

Great news: the conditional uses the same stems as the future (including the same 12 irregulars). Only the endings change — and they're the same as imperfect -ER/-IR endings:

Person	Ending	hablar	tener (irregular)
yo	-ía	hablaría	tendría
tú	-ías	hablarías	tendrías
él/ella	-ía	hablaría	tendría
nosotros	-íamos	hablaríamos	tendríamos
ellos	-ían	hablarían	tendrían

Pattern: Future stem + imperfect -ER/-IR endings = conditional. If you know both, you already know the conditional!

Using the Conditional — Key Phrases

Here are the most useful conditional expressions for everyday conversation:

Spanish	English	Context
Me gustaría...	I would like...	Polite requests
¿Podrías ayudarme?	Could you help me?	Asking for help
Yo en tu lugar, haría...	If I were you, I would do...	Giving advice
Deberías estudiar más.	You should study more.	Recommendations
Sería genial ir a la playa.	It would be great to go to the beach.	Wishes
¿Qué harías tú?	What would you do?	Hypotheticals
Con más dinero, viajaría.	With more money, I would travel.	Hypotheticals
¿Te importaría cerrar la puerta?	Would you mind closing the door?	Polite requests

"Me gustaría un café" is an example of...?

The Subjunctive — What Is It?

The subjunctive is not a tense — it's a mood. While the indicative describes facts and reality, the subjunctive expresses wishes, doubts, emotions, and unreality.

English barely uses it ("I wish I were rich"), but Spanish uses it constantly. It always appears in a subordinate clause after que.

Structure: Main clause (indicative) + que + subordinate clause (subjunctive).
Quiero (I want) + que + estudies (you study — subjunctive)

Present Subjunctive — Conjugation

Form it from the yo present indicative, drop the -o, and add the opposite vowel endings:

-AR verbs → use -E endings

yo hable

tú hables

él/ella hable

nosotros hablemos

ellos hablen

-ER/-IR verbs → use -A endings

yo coma

tú comas

él/ella coma

nosotros comamos

ellos coman

"Opposite vowel" rule: -AR verbs switch to E endings, -ER/-IR verbs switch to A endings. That's why it's called the "boot" — the nosotros form stays in the original vowel family.

WEIRDO — When to Use the Subjunctive

Use the mnemonic WEIRDO to remember which types of main clauses trigger the subjunctive:

Letter	Category	Trigger examples	Full example
W	Wishes & desires	querer, desear, esperar, ojalá	Quiero que vengas. — I want you to come.
E	Emotions	alegrarse, temer, sentir, sorprender	Me alegra que estés aquí. — I'm glad you're here.
I	Impersonal expressions	es importante, es necesario, es posible	Es importante que estudies. — It's important that you study.
R	Recommendations	recomendar, sugerir, aconsejar, pedir	Te recomiendo que vayas. — I recommend you go.
D	Doubt & denial	dudar, no creer, negar, es dudoso	Dudo que llueva. — I doubt it will rain.
O	Ojalá & commands	ojalá, mandar, prohibir, exigir	Ojalá que todo salga bien. — I hope everything goes well.

If it's a fact = indicative. If it's a wish, doubt, emotion, or uncertainty = subjunctive.
Compare: Sé que hablas español. (I know you speak — fact → indicative)
Espero que hables español. (I hope you speak — wish → subjunctive)

"Espero que vengas mañana" uses the subjunctive because...?

Which sentence requires the subjunctive?

Imperfect Subjunctive — What Is It?

The imperfecto de subjuntivo is the past version of the subjunctive. It expresses wishes, doubts, and hypotheticals about the past or unlikely/impossible conditions in the present.

It's the tense you need for the classic "if I were..." structure in Spanish.

Key uses: "Si clauses" (If I had... I would...), past wishes (I wished that...), polite requests (I wanted to ask you...), past emotions (I was glad that...).

Conjugation — Two Forms (-ara & -iera)

Form it from the 3rd person plural preterite (ellos form): drop -ron and add the endings. There are two interchangeable forms — -ara is more common in Latin America, -iera/-iese in Spain:

-AR verbs (hablaron → habla-)

yo hablara

tú hablaras

él/ella hablara

nosotros habláramos

ellos hablaran

-ER/-IR verbs (comieron → comie-)

yo comiera

tú comieras

él/ella comiera

nosotros comiéramos

ellos comieran

Irregulars follow the same rule! Since you build from the preterite "ellos" form, all irregularities are already built in: tuvieron → tuviera, fueron → fuera, hicieron → hiciera, dijeron → dijera.

Infinitive	Preterite (ellos)	Imp. Subjunctive (yo)	English
tener	tuvieron	tuviera	that I had
ser	fueron	fuera	that I were
ir	fueron	fuera	that I went
hacer	hicieron	hiciera	that I did
poder	pudieron	pudiera	that I could
saber	supieron	supiera	that I knew
decir	dijeron	dijera	that I said
querer	quisieron	quisiera	that I wanted

Si Clauses — The Hypothetical Formula

This is the most important use of the imperfect subjunctive — the "if" clauses for unlikely or impossible situations:

Formula: Si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional

Si tuviera dinero, viajaría por el mundo.
If I had money, I would travel the world.

Si hablara español perfectamente, viviría en Colombia.
If I spoke Spanish perfectly, I would live in Colombia.

Si fuera millonario, no trabajaría.
If I were a millionaire, I wouldn't work.

Si pudiera volar, iría a la luna.
If I could fly, I would go to the moon.

Other key uses:

Use	Example	English
Polite request	Quisiera un café, por favor.	I would like a coffee, please.
Past wish	Ojalá estuvieras aquí.	I wish you were here.
As if	Habla como si fuera experto.	He talks as if he were an expert.
Past emotion	Me alegré de que vinieras.	I was glad you came.

Complete: "Si yo _____ (ser) presidente, cambiaría las leyes."

"Quisiera un café" is more polite than "Quiero un café" because...?