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Tense guide
Condicional perfecto (Conditional Perfect)

Language: Spanish
Tense:
Person:

Practice conjugation drills

Introduction

This tense talks about actions that would have happened in the past but did not. It is used to express regret, make guesses about past events, or describe possibilities that never occurred. In English, it is very similar to saying "would have" followed by an action.

The most common use is to talk about a different choice you would have made in the past. It often expresses regret or describes a situation that could have been different.

Yo habría comprado el coche rojo.
(I would have bought the red car.)
Con más dinero, nosotros habríamos viajado por Europa.
(With more money, we would have traveled through Europe.)
Ella habría aceptado el trabajo.
(She would have accepted the job.)
Ustedes habrían llegado a tiempo, pero había mucho tráfico.
(You would have arrived on time, but there was a lot of traffic.)
Tú habrías preferido la otra película.
(You would have preferred the other movie.)

You can also use this tense to make a guess or an assumption about something that already happened. It shows you are not certain about a past event.

La calle está mojada. Habría llovido anoche.
(The street is wet. It probably rained last night.)
Él no contestó el teléfono. Habría estado durmiendo.
(He didn't answer the phone. He was probably sleeping.)
No vinieron a la fiesta. Se habrían olvidado.
(They didn't come to the party. They probably forgot.)

Remember, this tense always describes situations in the past that were not real. It is for things that might have happened but did not.

A less common use is to describe an action that was expected to be complete by a certain time, viewed from the past. It's like talking about a past deadline.

Él dijo que para las cinco ya habría terminado.
(He said that by five o'clock he would have already finished.)
Yo pensé que antes de la cena, ellos ya habrían llegado.
(I thought that before dinner, they would have already arrived.)

Conjugation patterns