Conditional Tense of Regular -ir

This tense is like a bridge. It connects the present to a hypothetical future. It is very stable. Regular verbs do not change their stems. You keep the whole verb intact. Then you just glue on an ending. It is like building with Lego blocks. You take the verb abrir. You add the ending ia. Now you have abriria. It means "I would open." It works the same for all regular -ir verbs. It is predictable and friendly. You will love how consistent it is. Yes, even native speakers appreciate this simplicity. It is the grammar equivalent of a smooth cup of coffee.

1. 1Start with the full infinitive form.
2. 2Do not drop the -ir ending.
3. 3Keep the entire word as your base.
4. 4Add the specific conditional endings.
5. 5For eu, add -ia (eu abriria).
6. 6For tu, add -ias (tu abririas).
7. 7For ele/ela/você, add -ia (você abriria).
8. 8For nós, add -íamos (nós abriríamos).
9. 9For vós, add -íeis (vós abriríeis).
10. 10For eles/elas/vocês, add -iam (vocês abririam).
11. 11Always put an accent on the í in nós.
12. 12The vós form also needs an accent.
13. 13The other forms do not have accents.
14. 14It is one of the easiest conjugations.

Use it for polite requests. Imagine you are at a nice restaurant. You wouldn't just bark orders. You would say Eu pediria o vinho. It sounds much softer. Use it for hypothetical scenarios. "If I had money, I viajaria." It is the tense of dreams. Use it for "future-in-the-past." This sounds tricky but it isn't. Imagine you said yesterday that you would come. "Ele disse que viria." The action was in the future then. But that moment is now in the past. It is also great for giving advice. "Eu decidiria agora if I were you." It makes your advice sound less bossy. Use it in job interviews too. "Eu contribuiria para o crescimento da empresa." It shows you are thinking ahead. Think of it as your "polite butler" voice.

Do not use it for certainties. If you are definitely going, use the future. Eu irei is for sure. Eu iria is "maybe." Do not use it for past habits. For that, use the Pretérito Imperfeito. Some people mix them up. "I used to open" is eu abria. "I would open (if...)" is eu abriria. See the difference? One extra syllable changes everything. Don't use it for commands. Use the imperative for that. The conditional is too soft for orders. It is like a grammar traffic light. Green means go (future). Yellow means maybe (conditional). Red means stop and think (subjunctive).

The biggest mistake is the "syllable skip." People forget the ri part. They say eu partia instead of eu partiria. Partia means "I was leaving." Partiria means "I would leave." It is a small change with a big meaning. Another mistake is the accent mark. The nós form MUST have an accent. It is nós partiríamos. Without it, the rhythm is wrong. Native speakers might still understand you. But you want to sound like a pro. Don't forget the s on tu. Even if you don't use tu often. It is good to know the pattern. Also, don't confuse it with the subjunctive. They often hang out together in sentences. But they are different tools. It is like confusing a hammer with a screwdriver.

Let's look at the Pretérito Imperfeito. It looks very similar to the conditional. Eu abria (Imperfect) vs Eu abriria (Conditional). The Imperfect is for things you did often. The Conditional is for things you might do. Think of the Imperfect as a photo album. It shows what happened repeatedly. Think of the Conditional as a movie script. It shows what could happen. Also, compare it to the Futuro do Presente. Eu abrirei is a promise. Eu abriria is a possibility. One is a solid rock. The other is a drifting cloud. Both are beautiful in their own way. Learning the difference is a huge milestone.