Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más.If I had time, I'd travel more.

Spanish marks an imaginary or unlikely present-or-future situation with a two-part recipe: si + imperfect subjunctive for the condition, and the conditional simple for the result. Nothing here is treated as a real, open possibility — the speaker presents the condition as hypothetical or remote, often (though not necessarily) contrary to the current facts.

Quick shortcut: si + imperfect subjunctive, ... conditional simple.

The pattern

Si fuera rico, compraría una casa en la playa. (If I were rich, I'd buy a house at the beach.) Si pudieras vivir en cualquier país, ¿cuál elegirías? (If you could live in any country, which would you choose?) Si lloviera, no saldríamos. (If it rained, we wouldn't go out.)

Clause Tense Example
si clause (condition) imperfect subjunctive si tuviera, si fuera, si pudiera
result clause conditional simple viajaría, sería, podría

The order is free: Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría and Viajaría si tuviera tiempo mean exactly the same thing. A comma separates the clauses only when si comes first — the same rule as the real condition.

Real vs. imaginary: the same si, two different moods

Spanish uses the same word si for both patterns, so the mood and tense that follow it do all the work of signalling which one you mean:

  • Real condition: si + present indicative → future / present / imperative. Si tengo tiempo, viajaré. (I might actually have time — it's a real, open possibility.)
  • Imaginary condition (this lesson): si + imperfect subjunctive → conditional simple. Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría. (a hypothetical, remote situation — often, but not necessarily, one that isn't currently true.)

The two sentences translate almost identically into English ("if I have time, I'll travel" vs. "if I had time, I'd travel"), but in Spanish they come from two completely separate, non-interchangeable recipes.

Never si + conditional

The single most common mistake: the si clause itself is never in the conditional mood — that mood belongs only to the result.

  • ❌ Si tendría más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. → ✅ Si tuviera más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. (the condition needs the imperfect subjunctive, not the conditional.)
  • ❌ Si sería rico, no trabajaría. → ✅ Si fuera rico, no trabajaría. (same trap with ser.)

Never si + present subjunctive here

The present subjunctive doesn't belong after this si either — only the imperfect subjunctive:

  • ❌ Si sepa la respuesta, te la diría. → ✅ Si supiera la respuesta, te la diría.
  • ❌ Si tenga tiempo, viajaría. → ✅ Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría.

Don't mix the two recipes

A real condition's present indicative and an imaginary condition's conditional don't combine — pick one pattern and stay in it for the whole sentence:

  • ❌ Si tengo más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. → ✅ Si tuviera más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. (imaginary throughout) or ✅ Si tengo más dinero, viajaré por el mundo. (real throughout.)

Building the forms

This lesson is about when to use each pattern, not how to conjugate the forms themselves — those are covered in their own lessons: the imperfect subjunctive for the condition, and conditional simple for the result.

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Si tendría más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. → ✅ Si tuviera más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. (the si clause is never in the conditional — that mood is reserved for the result.)
  • ❌ Si tengo más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. → ✅ Si tuviera más dinero, viajaría por el mundo. (don't mix a real condition's present indicative with an imaginary result's conditional.)
  • ❌ Si sepa la respuesta, te la diría. → ✅ Si supiera la respuesta, te la diría. (present subjunctive doesn't appear here either — only the imperfect subjunctive.)

Quick check

  1. Complete: Si __________ (tener) más tiempo libre, aprendería a tocar la guitarra.
  2. Why is Si sería rico, no trabajaría wrong? What should it say?
  3. Complete: Si (tú) __________ (tener) coche, te __________ (llevar, yo) al aeropuerto.
  4. True or false: Si tengo tiempo, viajaría más correctly combines the real and imaginary patterns.
Show answers
  1. tuviera — Si tuviera más tiempo libre, aprendería a tocar la guitarra.
  2. It puts the conditional (sería) in the si clause — the si clause always takes the imperfect subjunctive: Si fuera rico, no trabajaría.
  3. tuvieras, llevaría — Si tuvieras coche, te llevaría al aeropuerto.
  4. False — the real pattern's present indicative and the imaginary pattern's conditional don't mix. Either Si tengo tiempo, viajaré (real) or Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más (imaginary).

Key takeaways

  • Imaginary condition = si + imperfect subjunctive in the condition, plus conditional simple in the result (Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más). The order of the two clauses is free, with the same comma rule as the real condition.
  • The si clause is never in the conditional mood, and never in the present subjunctive either — only the imperfect subjunctive.
  • Don't mix the two recipes: si + present indicative pairs with future/present/imperative (real condition); si + imperfect subjunctive pairs only with the conditional (this lesson).
  • The forms themselves are taught separately: imperfect subjunctive for the condition, conditional simple for the result.