Hypotheticals, regrets and what-ifs — si tuviera, si hubiera — spoken smoothly in real time.
Spanish conditionals run on three tense pairs. Real: si + present → future (Si llueve mañana, cancelaremos el partido). Hypothetical present: si + imperfect subjunctive → conditional (Si tuviera tiempo, aprendería otro idioma). Counterfactual past: si + pluperfect subjunctive → conditional perfect (Si hubiera estudiado más, habría aprobado el examen) — and never put the future or conditional after si itself. Mixed conditionals link a past condition to a present consequence: Si hubiera ahorrado antes, ahora tendría casa propia.
Below: all three si-patterns with real examples, what locals actually say, and a way to speak them in a live exchange — no drills, no fill-in-the-blanks.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
There are no drills in the Condition Al lessons and nothing to fill in — you talk, and Carla hands you real hypotheticals. She asks for a genuine regret and you build the full pattern out loud: si hubiera…, habría…. Then she links it to today — what would be different now? — and you produce a mixed conditional: si hubiera…, ahora estaría…. Before the lesson ends she has you soften one of your own blunt requests with podría or sería posible, so you feel the register shift where it matters: in your own voice.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Quick answers
Never the future or conditional. Use the present indicative for real conditions (si llueve), the imperfect subjunctive for hypotheticals (si tuviera), and the pluperfect subjunctive for the counterfactual past (si hubiera sabido la verdad, no habría firmado).
Si tuviera. The conditional belongs in the other half of the sentence: Si tuviera tiempo, aprendería otro idioma — 'si tendría' is the error that gives learners away.
Always the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive, whatever the main clause does: Habla como si supiera todas las respuestas, me trataron como si fuera de la familia.
A past condition with a present consequence — the time frames deliberately mismatch: Si hubiera aprendido inglés, hoy trabajaría en Nueva York; si no fuera por ti, seguiría perdido.
Often with shortcuts: De haberlo sabido, habría actuado distinto, the very common spoken indicative si lo hubiera sabido, no vengo, and for advice yo que tú, no lo haría.