Spanish unreal conditionals: if I had, I would have

Short answer

A real condition takes the plain present: si tengo tiempo, voy. An unreal one takes si plus the past subjunctive with the conditional: si tuviera tiempo, iría. An impossible one — the past that did not happen — takes si hubiera plus a participle with habría.

Course · Unit: Subjunctive CEFR B2 Reviewed by Jhoslyn Updated 2026-09-11

Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.

Three patterns, and they are fixed

Learn them as whole shapes rather than as rules to apply. Spanish conditionals are unusually mechanical once you see the three.

	Pattern	Example
Real — might happen	si + present, + present/future	Si tengo* tiempo, voy.*
Unreal — probably won’t	si + past subjunctive, + conditional	Si tuviera* tiempo, iría.*
Impossible — didn’t happen	si + hubiera + participle, + habría + participle	Si hubiera tenido* tiempo, habría ido.*

English uses if I had for both of the last two and sorts it out by context. Spanish marks the difference in the verb, so you have to choose.

Real conditions: no subjunctive at all

This is worth saying first, because learners who have just discovered the subjunctive start putting it everywhere.

Si llueve, no salimos. — if it rains, we’re not going out.
Si puedes, avísame.
Si quieres, vamos mañana.

Present indicative after si. Present or future in the other half. These are the commonest conditionals in speech by a wide margin.

Unreal: si + past subjunctive, + conditional

For the hypothetical — unlikely, or contrary to fact right now.

Si tuviera plata, viajaría a Cusco.
Si fuera tú, no lo haría. — the si fuera tú opener is extremely common and worth having ready.
Si hablaras más despacio, te entendería.
¿Qué harías si te ganaras la Tinka? — the Peruvian lottery.

The past subjunctive is built from the ellos form of the pretérito — see The past subjunctive, which has the full table.

The mistake

The conditional never goes after si.

~~Si tendría plata…~~ is wrong. You will hear it from native speakers in some regions, including occasionally in Peru, and it is firmly non-standard — tested against in every exam and noticeable to an educated ear. The conditional belongs in the other half of the sentence.

Same for the compound: ~~si habría sabido~~ → si hubiera sabido.

Impossible: the past that did not happen

This is the regret pattern, and it is common in real speech.

Si hubiera sabido, no habría venido.
Si hubieras llamado, te habría esperado.
Si no hubiera perdido la combi, habría llegado a tiempo.

In relaxed speech the second half often becomes hubiera too — si hubiera sabido, no hubiera venido. Both are accepted; habría is the textbook form and hubiera is what you will hear.

Either order

The two halves swap freely, and the comma goes only when si comes first.

Si tuviera tiempo, iría.
Iría si tuviera tiempo.

Putting the si clause second is a good habit while you are learning: it lets you start the sentence with the easier half.

Sentences without si

Three more ways to build a hypothetical, all worth recognising.

De + infinitive — compact and very common in speech. De haber sabido, no vengo. — had I known, I wouldn’t have come.

Como si — always past subjunctive, as covered in the subjunctive lesson. Me habla como si fuera su empleado.

Aunque — “even if” takes the subjunctive; “even though” takes the indicative. The verb form is what tells them apart. Aunque llueva, voy. — even if it rains. (Hypothetical.) Aunque llueve, voy. — even though it’s raining. (It is.)

Practise

Si ___ (poder), te ayudaría.
Si ___ (tener) tiempo mañana, te llamo.
Si ___ (estudiar) más, habrías aprobado.
Yo no ___ (hacer) eso si fuera tú.
Aunque ___ (ser) caro, lo compro. — I’m buying it even if it’s expensive.

→ 1 pudiera · 2 tengo (real) · 3 hubieras estudiado · 4 haría · 5 sea.

Number 2 is the one to check yourself on. Nothing hypothetical is happening — you may well have time tomorrow — so no subjunctive.

Topics Conditionals Subjunctive

Real, unreal, impossible

Three if-patterns, only one of which needs the subjunctive — and the half of the sentence the conditional never goes in.

1Si ___ tiempo mañana, te llamo. (You may well have time.)
Answer

tengo — Nothing hypothetical is happening — tomorrow is genuinely open — so it is a real condition and the present indicative is right. Learners who have just met the subjunctive put it here by reflex.
2Si ___ tú, no lo haría.
Answer

fuera — *Si fuera tú* is contrary to fact — you are not them — so past subjunctive, with the conditional in the other half. It is worth having ready as a whole phrase.
3“If I had money” — the hypothetical kind, where you don't:
Answer

Si tuviera plata — *Si tuviera plata* marks it as unreal. *Si tengo plata* is a real condition about a possible situation, and *si tendría* is the non-standard one exams test against.
4Si ___ estudiado más, habrías aprobado.
Answer

hubieras — The exam is over and the studying did not happen, so this is the impossible pattern: *si hubiera(s)* plus participle, *habría(s)* plus participle in the other half.
5Aunque ___, voy. (“Even if it rains” — you don't know yet.)
Answer

llueva — The subjunctive is what makes it “even if”. You are not claiming anything about the weather, only conceding the possibility.
6Which one means “even though it's raining”?
Answer

Aunque llueve, voy. — The indicative asserts the rain as a fact you are telling the listener about. Nothing else in the sentence changes — the mood carries the whole difference.
7Put the halves the other way round: ___ si tuviera tiempo.
Answer

Iría — The conditional stays in its own half wherever that half sits, and the comma disappears when *si* comes second. Starting with the easier half is a good habit while you are learning.
8De ___ sabido, no vengo. (“Had I known, I wouldn't have come.”)
Answer

haber — *De* plus infinitive is the compact hypothetical you hear in speech — *de haber sabido*, *de haber podido*. It replaces the whole *si* clause.