Conditional Perfect

The conditional perfect is used similarly to the simple conditional. The main use of the conditional perfect is to talk about an action that could have taken place under different conditions.

Conditional Perfect - Form

Rule 1. The perfect conditional, like all compound tenses, is made up of the verb haber and the main verb in its participle form.

Remember that the following verbs are irregular in their participle form.

Common Phrases Used with the Conditional Perfect

Rule 2. Because of the function it expresses, the conditional perfect is very commonly used with the following construction. This phrase is composed of two parts: the first refers to a hypothetical situation different from what actually happened, and the second part is what you would have liked to do if the hypothetical situation had happened.

si + hubiera + hypothetical situation + haber + participle

The best thing about this construction is that it's very easy to use, since the only thing you have to modify is the conjugation of the verb haber in the perfect conditional. But, let's see how we can change it a little bit more.

Playing with the Constructions

Rule 3. Chunks and semi-fixed constructions are a great place to start, because they are natural and comfortable, but you can always adjust them to what you are trying to communicate. For example, you can add a no before hubiera and change the meaning of the sentence a bit.

Rule 4. You can change the order of the first and second part.

Rule 5. You can conjugate hubiera in the imperfect subjunctive to talk about other people.

Simplifying It

Rule 6. Another way to use this sentence is to simply use the perfect conditional part, and add the rest of the necessary information. For example, using the example above, we can omit the 'si hubiera' and just use the perfect conditional.

As you can notice, this form is a little easier, because we are avoiding the step of using the verb haber in the imperfect subjunctive. We replace it with a sentence that gives the same information but is in the past tense of indicative, a much simpler tense.