poder means: to be able
Click to see all conjugation charts of poder in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will see how to conjugate the verb poder in the Condicional tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the poder verb conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation check the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see the Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Condicional. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you can see additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Condicional to English

Notice that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

Step by step instructions

Condicional belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of its conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each inflected form consists of two words. The verb poder has an irregular conjugation in the Condicional tense of the Indicativo mood. The basis for this conjugation is an irregular stem podr, but all the endings stay the same as in the regular conjugationUse the irregular stem podr in each person Next, add to this irregular stem the endings specific to each person In this tense we use the exact same endings in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Check out the image showing all the endings. Notice the colors and shapes of the letters. It will help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.

Also notice that in verb groups -er and -ir all six endings in both Pretéterito Imperfecto and Condicional tenses are the same. Good tip to remember! The only difference is that the Condicional uses the entire infinitive as the stem. Add the regular ending -ía for the first person singular in order to get podría:

• yo podría – I would be able

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -ías for the second person singular in order to get podrías:

• tú podrías – you would be able

And similarly add the regular ending -ía for the third person singular in order to get podría:

• él podría – he would be able
• ella podría – she would be able
• usted podría – (formal) you would be able

And once more add the regular ending -íamos for the first person plural in order to get podríamos:

• nosotros podríamos – we would be able
• nosotras podríamos – (feminine) we would be able

And again add the regular ending -íais for the second person plural in order to get podríais:

• vosotros podríais – (plural) you would be able
• vosotras podríais – (feminine, plural) you would be able

And again add the regular ending -ían for the third person plural in order to get podrían:

• ellos podrían – they would be able
• ellas podrían – (feminine) they would be able
• ustedes podrían – (formal, plural) you would be able

That’s it! The conjugation is now complete. That’s the final result:

yo	podría	I would be able
tú	podrías	you would be able
él/ella/usted	podría	he/she/it would be able
nosotros/nosotras	podríamos	we would be able
vosotros/vosotras	podríais	you would be able
ellos/ellas/ustedes	podrían	they would be able

Click to see all conjugation charts of poder in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for example sentences and next steps.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your knowledge try this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PresentePretéritoImperfectoFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to poder visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for poder visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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