Conditional of Probability
The conditional (pospretérito) can make a guess about the past: Serían as dez cando chegou (It must have been about ten when he arrived), Tería vinte anos (He must have been twenty).
How It Works
Typical uses
- Time and age: Serían as dez cando chegou. Tería vinte anos cando marchou a Suíza.
- Who or what it was: Quen sería? Sería o carteiro.
- Rough amounts: Habería unhas cincuenta persoas na festa.
- Explaining past behaviour: Non colleu o teléfono; estaría durmindo.
Future or conditional?
- A guess about now: Non responde; estará na ducha.
- A guess about then: Onte non respondeu; estaría na ducha.
Spelling
As in every use of the conditional, the nós and vós forms have no written accent: seriamos, estariamos, chegariades. The other forms have one: sería, estarían.
Other ways to guess about the past
Debía de ser tarde (see deber de), or an adverb with the preterite: Seguramente chegou ás dez.
One form, three jobs
The same conditional form can express a guess (Serían as dez), a hypothetical (Iría contigo, I would go with you) or a polite request (Podería axudarme?; see polite requests).
Examples (6)
- Serían as dez cando chegou.
It must have been about ten when he arrived.
The guess is about a past moment, so the conditional replaces the future serán.
- Tería vinte anos cando marchou a Suíza.
She must have been about twenty when she moved to Switzerland.
- Chamaron á porta, pero non abrín. Quen sería?
Someone knocked at the door, but I didn’t open it. Who could it have been?
- Habería unhas cincuenta persoas na festa.
There must have been about fifty people at the party.
Habería is the conditional of impersonal haber, so it stays singular.
- Non colleu o teléfono; estaría durmindo.
He didn’t pick up the phone; he must have been asleep.
- Chegariamos ás once, máis ou menos.
We must have arrived at about eleven.
The nós form has no written accent.
Common Mistakes
Using the future for a guess about the past.
Serán as dez cando chegou.Serían as dez cando chegou.Chegou places the scene in the past, so the guess needs the conditional. Serán would be a guess about the present time.
Writing an accent on the nós form.
Chegaríamos ás once, máis ou menos.Chegariamos ás once, máis ou menos.The standard stresses the conditional nós and vós forms on the second-to-last syllable (che-ga-ria-mos), as many speakers do, so they carry no written accent.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The conditional can express a guess about a past situation.
Related Patterns
- Polite Requests With the Conditional
Another use of the same form: softening requests.
Level 3 - deber (de) + InfinitiveObligation and Probability with Deber
Deber de + infinitive, another way to express probability.
Level 3 - haber de + Infinitive
Haber de + infinitive, which can also express probability.
Level 2 - Preterite vs Imperfect
The past tenses that often appear next to these guesses, as in cando chegou.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Conditional of Probability in Bubblegum
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