The conditional in the main clause:

Contrary-to-fact conditions
As seen in Chapter 16, one of the uses of the conditional is to express a contrary-to-fact action—
that is, a hypothetical statement or events that are not probable. In some textbooks they are called
hypothetical if-clauses. Usually all if-clauses with a past tense are considered hypothetical and
therefore require the subjunctive, as demonstrated in the following sentences.

Si yo tuviera más dinero, no ahorraría tanto. If I had more money I would not save
so much.
Si tú estudiaras más, tendrías más If you studied more, you would have
oportunidades en el futuro. more opportunities in the future.

These if-clauses indicate actions or events that may be possible, yet most probably will not happen.

EJERCICIO

21·4
¡Práctica otra vez! Complete each sentence with the appropriate form of the imperfect
subjunctive (-ra ending) of the verb in parentheses.

1. Serías trilingüe si tú italiano. (estudiar)

2. Nadie te creería si tú no la verdad. (decir)
3. Llamaría a mi madre si yo enfermo. (estar)
4. Podríamos disfrutar más si nosotros un televisor grande. (tener)
5. No esperaría a mis amigos si ellos muy tarde al aeropuerto.
(llegar)
6. ¿Qué harías si yo el piano en tu casa? (tocar)
7. María se casaría si su novio le la mano. (pedir)
8. Le pediría ayuda a mis padres si yo no pagar el alquiler. (poder)
9. Nosotros iríamos de compras si no mucha gente. (haber)
10. Estaríamos felices si Uds. nos al cine. (llevar)

EJERCICIO

21·5
Traducción. Use the -ra endings of the imperfect subjunctive.

1. If I had a friend here now I would be happy.

2. I would not sing a song if you do not play the guitar.

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 3. I would introduce you to my sister if you were not so shy.

4. I would not answer the question if I did not know the answer.

5. If it weren’t raining, we would have dinner on the terrace.

6. This house would be worth (valer) one million dollars if it had a pool in the backyard.

7. It would be a miracle if my friends helped me to finish my homework.

8. If you were stronger you would be able to play better.

9. If the suitcase were bigger, I would not take it with me.

10. If I were a liar, who would believe me?

EJERCICIO

21·6
Y en tu caso, ¿verdadero (V) o falso (F)?

1. Si tuviera que trabajar los domingos, yo renunciaría (resign).

2. No ayudaría a mis colegas si se rieran de mí.
3. Sería terrible si no aprendiera español.
4. Si alguien pusiera su auto en mi espacio de parqueo, llamaría a la policía.
5. Sería increíble si yo pudiera tocar el violín.
6. Si mis amigos me pidieran un favor, yo lo haría.
7. Si yo pudiera, viviría en Madrid.
8. Si yo tuviera más tiempo, me entrenaría para un maratón en Nueva York.
9. Yo no pudiera correr rápido si no practicara tres veces a la semana.
10. Sería fantástico si yo comprara una computadora nueva.

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 EJERCICIO

21·7
Sueños son sueños. Traducción. Use the words in the Vocabulario útil for your
translation.

VOCABULARIO ÚTIL

broken, broken-down descompuesto, -a

dishes (pl.) la vajilla
happy placentero, -a
in-laws los suegros
fairy tale el cuento de hadas
to achieve, meet lograr
to call, warn avisar
to be lucky tener suerte
to wash (dishes, clothes) fregar
unknown desconocido, -a

Everyone would like his/her life to be pleasant. For example, if it had not rained today I would be
very happy. If I worked fewer hours in my office, I would have more time to relax and to watch
movies on my TV. If my parents lived close to me, they would help me every week to clean the
house. If I found one thousand dollars, I would invite my friends to have dinner in a fabulous
restaurant. If I had the luck not to have to go back to my job, I would travel to an unknown
place. I would not have to open my door if my in-laws were visiting without warning us by
telephone. If I were rich I would not have this horrible, old and broken-down car. I would be the
queen of the house if I did not have to wash the dishes. It would be a perfect world! It would a
fairy tale if I could keep everything under my control. But dreams are dreams, nothing else.

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