📖LearnModule 9 · Lesson 6 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, completedUnit 2 · El arrepentimiento y el reproche
El condicional compuesto
Module 9 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B2, completed), lesson 6 of 30: The conditional perfect is the tense of the thing that did not happen. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
me habría gustado ir
I would have liked to go
meh ah-BREE-ah goos-TAH-doh eer
el condicional compuesto
the conditional perfect
ehl kohn-dee-syoh-NAHL kohm-PWEHS-toh
ella habría ido antes
she would have gone earlier
EH-yah ah-BREE-ah EE-doh AHN-tehs
más temprano
earlier
mahs tehm-PRAH-noh
de otro modo
otherwise
deh OH-troh MOH-doh
posible
possible
poh-SEE-bleh
la oportunidad
the opportunity
lah oh-pohr-too-nee-DAHD
perder una oportunidad
to miss a chance
pehr-DEHR OO-nah oh-pohr-too-nee-DAHD
yo habría podido ayudar
I could have helped
yoh ah-BREE-ah poh-DEE-doh ah-yoo-DAR
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
The conditional perfect is the tense of the thing that did not happen. Build it the obvious way: the condicional of haber (habría), then the participle. Me habría gustado ir — I would have liked to go. Ella habría ido antes — she would have gone earlier.
Y también · And also
Habría never changes for the participle, and the participle never agrees: habría ido, habría podido, habría tenido — one shape for every person and gender. Nothing new to learn except the meaning, which is one of the most useful in the language.
Ojo · Watch out
The condicional compuesto is habría + participle: habría ido, habrían podido. The participle never agrees in a compound tense: ella habría ido, never ella habría ida.
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with me habría gustado ir.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out poder, condicional compuesto and ir, condicional compuesto in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.