Condicional Compuesto: how to form and when to use it?

The Condicional Compuesto (Spanish conditional perfect) is formed with the conditional of haber + the past participle. It describes actions that would have happened in the past under different circumstances.

• Past hypothesis: Habría ido al cine, pero estaba cansado (I would have gone to the cinema, but I was tired)
• Probability about the past: Habrían sido las diez cuando llegó (It was probably ten when he arrived)
• Third conditional: Si hubieras estudiado, habrías aprobado (If you had studied, you would have passed)
• Future-in-the-past: Me dijo que para el viernes habría terminado el proyecto (He told me that by Friday he would have finished the project)

How is the Condicional Compuesto formed?

The rule is simple: conditional of haber + past participle. Haber is conjugated; the participle stays invariable (ending in -ado or -ido, except for irregulars).

Regular verbs: hablar, comer, vivir

What is the Condicional Compuesto used for?

The Condicional Compuesto has four main uses:

1. Hypothetical past actions that did not happen

• Habría ido al cine, pero estaba cansado (I would have gone to the cinema, but I was tired) — the action never took place.
• Te habría llamado, pero perdí tu número (I would have called you, but I lost your number).
• Habríamos llegado a tiempo si no hubiera habido tráfico (We would have arrived on time if there hadn't been traffic).

2. Probability or conjecture about a past in the past

• Habrían sido las diez cuando llegó (It must have been around ten when he arrived).
• Pensé que ya habría salido del trabajo (I thought he had probably already left work).

3. Future-in-the-past already completed

• Me dijo que para el viernes habría terminado el proyecto (He told me that by Friday he would have finished the project).
• Prometieron que en una hora habrían arreglado el problema (They promised that in an hour they would have fixed the problem).

4. Third conditional (unreal past sentences)

• Si hubieras estudiado, habrías aprobado (If you had studied, you would have passed).
• Si hubiera sabido, habría venido antes (If I had known, I would have come earlier).
• Si me lo hubieran dicho, no habría comprado ese coche (If they had told me, I wouldn't have bought that car).

Which verbs have an irregular participle?

Since the Condicional Compuesto uses the past participle, the irregulars are the same as in Pretérito Perfecto and Pluscuamperfecto. Haber is always regular (habría, habrías…).

Participles with hiatus

In verbs like oír, creer, leer, caer, traer, the participle carries an accent on the í: habría oído, habría creído, habría leído, habría caído, habría traído.

What is the difference between Condicional Simple and Condicional Compuesto?

The Condicional Simple talks about hypotheses in the present or future; the Condicional Compuesto talks about past hypotheses that can no longer take place.

How does it combine with the Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo?

The Condicional Compuesto appears very often in the third conditional: the si clause uses the Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo (hubiera + participle), and the main clause uses the Condicional Compuesto.

• Si hubiera sabido, habría venido antes (If I had known, I would have come earlier).
• Si hubieras estudiado, habrías aprobado el examen (If you had studied, you would have passed the exam).
• Si me lo hubieran dicho, no habría comprado ese coche (If they had told me, I wouldn't have bought that car).

It can also combine with the Imperfecto de Subjuntivo in a mixed conditional: Si fueras más organizado, ya habrías terminado (If you were more organized, you would have already finished).

Want to practice the Condicional Compuesto? In our app you can conjugate verbs with interactive exercises and compare it with the Condicional Simple and the Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo.