The conditional tense verb conjugation in Spanish gives you the ability to add the subtle message that you “would” or “could” do something. It’s an important tense for sharing a hypothetical and it can also be a nice way to soften certain everyday requests and instructions that you give your patients.
Check out today’s medical Spanish conditional tense lesson to see how you might implement it into your patient conversations:
Let’s look at some examples of the conditional tense first:
- Creo que su hijo está bien porque si no, no estarÃa tan activo.
- Si le duele el estómago, deberÃa tomar los medicamentos con comidas.
- Me gustarÃa hacerle unos análisis de sangre para ver sus niveles de…. en la sangre.
- ¿PreferirÃa esperar o regresar en media hora?
- Una fractura serÃa más dolorosa y no serÃa posible mover el brazo.
Conjugating the Conditional verb tense in Spanish is super easy, we keep the whole verb in tact and then add the endings. And we use the same conjugation for all verbs:
Yo…Ãa
Tú…Ãas
Él, Ella, Usted…Ãa
Nosotros…Ãamos
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes…Ãan
Verbos -ar
Examinar:
Yo examinarÃa
Tú examinarÃas
Él, Ella, Usted examinarÃa
Nosotros examinarÃamos
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes examinarÃan
Verbos -er
Comer:
Yo comerÃa
Tú comerÃas
Él, Ella, Usted comerÃa
Nosotros comerÃamos
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes comerÃan
Verbos -ir
Vivir:
Yo vivirÃa
Tú vivirÃas
Él, Ella, Usted vivirÃa
Nosotros vivirÃamos
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes vivirÃan
Yes there are a few irregular verbs, but it’s not that bad. The irregulars just have a shortened stem and the same conditional tense endings:
Decir > dirÃa (would say)
Hacer > harÃa (would do, make)
Poder > podrÃa (would be able to)
Poner > pondrÃa (would put)
Querer > querrÃa (would want)
Saber > sabrÃa (would know)
Salir > saldrÃa (would leave)
Tener > tendrÃa (would have)
Venir > vendrÃa (would come)
How about you give it a try? Let’s practice…
- ¿________ (poder) usted quitarse la ropa y ponerse esta bata?
- Yo ____________ (preferir) esperar una semana más antes de cambiar los medicamentos.
- ¿ __________ (tener) usted tiempo el lunes a las 9a?
- ¿ ___________ (gustar(le)) esperar aquà o regresar en 30 minutos?
- Nosotros le ________ (dar) anestesia local, no general.
- Sin los medicamentos, la presión ___________ (estar) muy alta.
- ¿__________ (sentar – ud) al bebé en su regazo por favor?
- Yo _________ (comer) una dieta más alta en fibra
- Si es necesario, ella ___________ (trabajar) en las noches este mes
- ____________ (gustarle – a mÃ) ver la erupción en la piel por favor.
- Ella ________ (vivir) en las montañas pero ella necesita más oxÃgeno.
- Yo le ______ (dar) una receta para un antibiótico, pero la infección es viral.
- Esta fiebre ________(poder) ser causada por un virus o una bacteria.
- Si la fiebre es causada por un virus, un antibiótico no _________ (ayudar).
- ¿________ (poder) esperar aquà un momento, por favor?
- La cirugÃa es una opción, pero _____________(gustarle – a mÃ) referirle al terapeuta fÃsico primero.
- Cuál ____________ (gustarle – a ud), ¿la pastilla o un jarabe?
Here are few common phrases that you might find yourself saying in English routinely:
- I would prefer = Yo preferirÃa ______
- Would you prefer? = ¿PreferirÃa usted ______ ?
- I would like = Me gustarÃa ______
- ¿Would you like…? = ¿Le gustarÃa ______ ?
- I could… = Yo podrÃa ______
- We could… = Nosotros podrÃamos ______
- ¿Could you…? = ¿PodrÃa usted ______ ?
Practice Conditional Verb tense conjugations below!
Answers to the practice activity above:
- PodrÃa
- preferirÃa
- TendrÃa
- Le gustarÃa
- darÃamos
- estarÃa
- SentarÃa
- comerÃa
- trabajarÃa
- Me gustarÃa
- vivirÃa
- darÃa
- podrÃa
- ayudarÃa
- PodrÃa
- me gustarÃa
- le gustarÃa
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When do you use “querer” vs “le gustar”?
As in “yo me gustaria” vs “yo querria” or “tu te gustaria?” vs “tu querria”….
Hey Mary Beth, great question. Technically “gustar” is like and “querer” is want. So you can use that basic difference in choosing which verb is best for what you’re trying to communicate.
Thanks so much, I love this verb tense. Lol!
You’re welcome Cheryl 🙂