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

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, this grammar powers your work across the five prescribed themes — Identities, Experiences, Human ingenuity, Social organization and Sharing the planet — 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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