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IB Diploma Spanish B HL · Grammar backbone 2 of 10 — Future and conditional
IB Spanish B · HL

Future & conditional

These two tenses are twins: both build on the whole infinitive and both share the same list of irregular stems. The future says what will happen; the conditional says what would happen. Master one and you almost get the other for free. In IB Diploma Spanish B HL, this grammar powers your work across the five prescribed themes — Identities, Experiences, Human ingenuity, Social organization and Sharing the planet — and the two literary works you study, especially when you imagine future scenarios under Human ingenuity.

infinitive + endingsfuture = will · conditional = would

Work through each screen and answer the questions — some ask you to recognise the tense, some to produce the form. Collect ⭐ and press Start.

Formation · the future

Whole infinitive + one set of endings

The future keeps the entire infinitive and adds these endings — the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs. Note the accents on every form except nosotros:

hablar + endings
hablaré
hablarás
hablará
hablaremos
hablaréis
hablarán
comer + endings
comeré
comerás
comerá
comeremos
comeréis
comerán
vivir + endings
viviré
vivirás
vivirá
viviremos
viviréis
vivirán

The whole infinitive stays: hablaré, not hablé — the ending is bolted onto hablar. This is what makes the future so regular for the endings.

Quick check

Will speak

?"I will speak with her tomorrow." — which form of hablar?
Formation · the conditional

Same stem, "imperfect-style" endings

The conditional uses the same base (the infinitive, or the irregular stem) but adds the endings -ía / -ías / -ía / -íamos / -íais / -ían — every form carries an accent on the í:

hablar + endings
hablaría
hablarías
hablaría
hablaríamos
hablaríais
hablarían
comer + endings
comería
comerías
comería
comeríamos
comeríais
comerían
vivir + endings
viviría
vivirías
viviría
viviríamos
viviríais
vivirían

Use it for: "would" statements and polite requests — Yo que tú, estudiaría más ("If I were you, I'd study more"); ¿Podrías ayudarme? ("Could you help me?").

Type it

Your turn — the future

1Write the yo future of hablar (to speak).
Hint: whole infinitive hablar + yo ending .
Irregular stems · shared

Twelve stems that both tenses share

A set of common verbs use a modified stem instead of the plain infinitive — and, crucially, the same irregular stem works for both future and conditional. Learn the stem once, use it twice:

infinitivestem
tenertendr-
ponerpondr-
salirsaldr-
venirvendr-
decirdir-
hacerhar-
poderpodr-
querer · saber · haberquerr- · sabr- · habr-

Add the same endings: future tendré, pondré, diré, haré…; conditional tendría, pondría, diría, haría…

Sort it

Pick the right form

Type it

Your turn — the conditional

2Write the yo conditional of comer (to eat).
Hint: whole infinitive comer + yo ending -ía.
Game · Match

Match the infinitive to its stem

Tap an infinitive on the left, then its future/conditional stem on the right.

INFINITIVE
tener
poner
salir
decir
hacer
poder
STEM
dir-
tendr-
podr-
saldr-
har-
pondr-
Compound forms

Future perfect & conditional perfect

Stack an auxiliary on a participle and you climb one step further. Both use the irregular participles you already know:

  • Future perfect = habré / habrás / habrá… + participle = "will have done": Para el lunes ya habré terminado ("By Monday I will have finished").
  • Conditional perfect = habría / habrías / habría… + participle = "would have done": Yo habría ido ("I would have gone").

Exam gold: a well-placed habría ido or habré terminado instantly signals IB-level control of the compound tenses.

Quick check

Would speak — the conditional

?"I would speak with her." — which form of hablar?
Type it

Your turn — irregular future

3Write the yo future of tener — "I will have".
Hint: irregular stem tendr- + yo ending .
Regular vs irregular stem

Which verbs keep the plain infinitive?

Most verbs simply keep the whole infinitive as the stem; only the twelve on the list swap to a shortened stem. Spotting which is which is half the battle:

  • hablar → hablar-, comer → comer-, vivir → vivir- — regular, unchanged.
  • tener → tendr-, hacer → har-, poder → podr- — irregular, shortened.

Watch out: the endings never change — only the stem does. tendré and hablaré take the identical .

Sort it

Regular stem or irregular stem?

Sort each verb by whether its future/conditional stem is the plain infinitive or a shortened irregular.

Regular stem (= infinitive)

Irregular stem

Quick check

Irregular future stem

?"I will do it." — which form of hacer?
Type it

Your turn — irregular conditional

4Write the yo conditional of hacer — "I would do".
Hint: same irregular stem har- + conditional yo ending -ía.
Future of probability

The future for guessing about "now"

A neat idiom: the future can express a guess or probability about the present — "must be / probably is":

  • Serán las tres. = "It must be about three o'clock."
  • ¿Quién será? = "Who can that be?" (I wonder who it is.)
  • Tendrá unos cuarenta años. = "He must be about forty."

The conditional does the same for the past: Serían las tres cuando llegó = "It must have been about three when he arrived."

Quick check

The future of probability

?Which sentence means "it must be about three o'clock" (a guess about now)?
A conditional perfect

What "would have" looks like

Combine habría with a participle to say what would have happened — often in response to a past hypothesis:

  • Yo habría ido a la fiesta. = "I would have gone to the party."
  • Habríamos ganado con más tiempo. = "We would have won with more time."
  • Ella habría dicho la verdad. = "She would have told the truth."

Auxiliary is irregular too: haber uses the stem habr- → conditional habría, future habré.

Quick check

Would have gone

?"I would have gone to the party." — which form uses the conditional perfect of ir?
Type it

Your turn — future perfect

5Translate "I will have finished" (future perfect of terminar, yo).
Hint: future of haber for yo (habré) + the participle terminado.
Recap

Your future & conditional toolkit

Future: infinitive + -é / -ás / -á / -emos / -éis / -án (hablaré…) = "will".

Conditional: infinitive + -ía / -ías / -ía / -íamos / -íais / -ían (hablaría…) = "would".

Shared irregular stems: tendr-, pondr-, saldr-, vendr-, dir-, har-, podr-, querr-, sabr-, habr-.

Compound forms: future perfect habré + participle ("will have"); conditional perfect habría + participle ("would have").

Future of probability: Serán las tres = "it must be about three".

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