Introduction
This
post deals with talking about what you did in the past and more
specifically about something you didn't do, but would have
done in some hypothetical circumstances.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. Maybe you
both study Spanish together. You have mentioned that yesterday you
had been on the verge of not going to your Spanish lesson. Wondering
if you would not have minded missing your lesson, the other person
says to you: "tell me, would you not have gone to your
Spanish lesson?".
In
Spanish, he/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:
Dime,
¿no habrías ido a clase de español?
On the
other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:
Dígame,
¿no habría ido (usted) a clase de español?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to state what you would have done. When you
say what you would have done in the past, you DO NOT need
to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's
question.
In this case, you could consider two alternatives:
1. Saying what you
would do ('no ifs no buts'), for example:
- Sí, habría ido (yes, I would have gone)
- No me habría gustado perdérmela (I wouldn't have liked to miss it)
- No, no habría ido (no, I wouldn't have gone)
2. Saying what you
would have done in certain circumstances*, for example:
- No habría ido si hubiera llovido (I wouldn't have gone, had it rained)
- Si hubiese llovido, no habría ido (had it rained, I wouldn't have gone)
Now you should
practice replying to someone who says to you:
Dime,
¿no habrías ido a clase de español?
*Please
see grammar below
Grammar-Hypothetical Situations
We use conditional sentences to consider the consequences of hypothetical situations, for example:
- Si no llueve, vamos a la playa (if it doesn't rain, we are going to the beach)
- Si no lloviera, iríamos a la playa (if it didn't rain, we would go to the beach)
- Si no hubiera llovido, habríamos ido a la playa (if it hadn't rained, we would have gone to the beach)
1. Firm Condition
Considering
hypothetical situations and their consequences.
- Firm Condition → ActionSi llueve, nos vamos a casa (if it rains, we go home)Nos vamos a casa si llueve (we go home if it rains)
Notes
- A future action, e.g.: 'going home'
- A firm and possible condition, e.g.: 'if it rains'
- If the condition materialises, then the action will follow
Spanish conditional sentences of this kind usually take the following general forms:
- Si <present -indicative>... <present -indicative>, e.g.:
- Si llueve nos vamos a casa (if it rains, we go home)
- <present -indicative>... si <present indicative>, e.g.:
- Nos vamos a casa si llueve (we go home if it rains)
- Si <present -indicative>... <future>, e.g.:
- Si llueve nos iremos a casa (if it rains, we will go home)
- <future>... si <present -indicative>, e.g.:
- Nos iremos a casa si llueve (we will go home if it rains)
- Si <present -indicative>... <imperative>, e.g.:
- Si quieres irte, vete (if you want to leave, go)
- <imperative>... si <present -indicative>, e.g.:
- No te vayas, si no quieres irte (don't leave if you don't want to)
2. 'Soft' Condition
Considering less
likely hypothetical situations and their consequences.
- 'Soft' Condition → ActionSi lloviera nos iríamos a casa (if it rained, we would go home)Nos iríamos a casa si lloviese (we would go home if it rained)
Notes
- A future action, e.g.: 'going home'
- A 'softer' but possible condition, e.g.: 'if it rained'
- If the condition materialised, then the action would follow
Conditional sentences of this type usually take the following general forms:
- Si <imperfect -subjunctive>... <conditional>, e.g.:
- Si lloviera nos mojaríamos (if it rained we would get wet)
- <conditional>... si <imperfect -subjunctive>, e.g.:
- Nos mojaríamos si lloviese (we would get wet if it rained)
3. Past Condition
Consider
hypothetical alternative consequences of situations from the past.
Past
Situation → Hypothetical Consequences
|
Si
hubiera
llovido
nos habríamos
ido
a casa (had
it rained, we would have gone home)
|
Nos
habríamos
ido
a casa si
hubiese
llovido
(we
would have gone home had it rained)
|
- A hypothetical past action, e.g.: 'going home'
- A hypothetical action which didn't happen
- An impossible condition, e.g.: 'had it rained'
- It didn't rain, hence it is impossible for the condition to materialise.
- Had the condition materialised, then the hypothetical action would have followed.
Conditional sentences of this type usually take the following general forms:
- Si <pluperfect -subjunctive>... <conditional perfect>, e.g.:
- Si hubiera llovido nos habríamos mojado (had it rained, we would have got wet)
- <conditional perfect>... si <pluperfect -subjunctive>, e.g.:
- Nos habríamos mojado si hubiera llovido (we would have got wet if it had rained)
Now you should practise the use of conditional sentences with some examples of your own.
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