faria/diria/traria
Condicional Irregular (Fazer/Dizer/Trazer)
The conditional mood (would do) is usually formed by adding endings to the full infinitive. However, fazer, dizer, and trazer use shortened stems: far-, dir-, and trar-.
How It Works
The conditional mood (Futuro do Pretérito) expresses actions that depend on a condition or are used for politeness. A key rule to remember is that fazer, dizer, and trazer are the only three irregular verbs in this tense; all other verbs follow the regular conditional endings.
The irregular stems are formed by dropping the 'e' and 'z' from the infinitive:
- Fazer (to do/make) → far- (faria, farias, faríamos, fariam)
- Dizer (to say/tell) → dir- (diria, dirias, diríamos, diriam)
- Trazer (to bring) → trar- (traria, trarias, traríamos, trariam)
Important Note: Any verb derived from these three (e.g., desfazer, satisfazer, contradizer, refazer) inherits the same irregular stem (e.g., desfaria, satisfaria).
Usage Contexts:
1. Hypotheticals: Often paired with the imperfect subjunctive (e.g., 'If I had time, I would do it').
2. Politeness: Softening requests (e.g., 'I would say that...').
3. Future of the Past: Reporting what someone said they would do (e.g., 'He said he would bring the wine').
Note on Register: In casual speech, especially in Brazil, speakers often replace the conditional with the pretérito imperfeito (e.g., using fazia instead of faria). However, the irregular conditional remains the standard for formal writing and polite service.
Examples (5)
- O que você faria se ganhasse na loteria?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Word by Word: The what you would-do if won in-the lottery?
Uses 'faria' to ask about a hypothetical situation.
- Eu diria a verdade, mas ninguém acreditaria.
I would tell the truth, but no one would believe it.
Word by Word: I would-say the truth, but no-one would-believe.
Uses 'diria' to express a counterfactual action.
- Ela traria o bolo se você tivesse pedido.
She would bring the cake if you had asked.
Word by Word: She would-bring the cake if you had asked.
Uses 'traria' to show an action dependent on a past condition.
- Nós faríamos o jantar se tivéssemos os ingredientes.
We would make dinner if we had the ingredients.
Word by Word: We would-make the dinner if had the ingredients.
Note the accent on 'faríamos' to maintain the correct stress.
- Eles disseram que trariam os documentos hoje.
They said they would bring the documents today.
Word by Word: They said that would-bring the documents today.
Uses 'trariam' as the 'future of the past' in reported speech.
Common Mistakes
Over-regularizing the verb by using the full infinitive.
Eu fazer-ia o trabalho amanhã.Eu faria o trabalho amanhã.Learners often try to add '-ia' to the full verb 'fazer', but you must use the contracted stem 'far-'.
Confusing the conditional with the imperfect indicative.
Se eu pudesse, eu fazia agora.Se eu pudesse, eu faria agora.While 'fazia' is common in casual speech, 'faria' is the grammatically correct conditional form for hypothetical 'if' clauses.
Missing the required accent in the 'nós' form.
Nós fariamos tudo por você.Nós faríamos tudo por você.The 'nós' form of the conditional always requires an acute accent on the 'í' (faríamos, diríamos, traríamos).
How It Connects
Learn This First
To learn the irregular conditional forms 'faria', 'diria', and 'traria', a learner needs to understand the standard conditional endings and recognize the specific irregular stems (far-, dir-, trar-) that these three verbs share with the future tense.
- -ia/-ias/-ia/-íamos/-íeis/-iam (condicional)Futuro Do Pretérito Regular
The irregular conditional uses the same endings as the regular conditional, so the learner must first be familiar with the standard conjugation pattern.
Level 3 - farei/direi/trareiFuturo Irregular (Fazer/Dizer/Trazer)
The irregular stems (far-, dir-, trar-) are identical to those used in the irregular future tense. Understanding one facilitates the other.
Level 3
Related Patterns
- Condicional de Cortesia
The conditional mood is frequently used to make requests more polite.
Level 3 - se + Imperfect Subjunctive + ConditionalCondição Irreal (Presente)
This is the most common sentence structure where these irregular conditional forms appear.
Level 4 - falar-lhe-iaMesoclisis with Conditional Tense
In very formal Portuguese, pronouns can be placed inside these conditional forms.
Level 3 - tivesse/fizesse/pudesse/quisesse/soubesse/dissesseImperfeito Do Subjuntivo Irregular Comum
The imperfect subjunctive provides the 'if' condition that triggers the use of the conditional.
Level 4
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice faria/diria/traria in Bubblegum
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