Track 43

1. haber contracts too: habría Rule

Haber loses its e before the future endings, exactly as poder does. It is a natural irregularity: imagine years of saying "habería" and hearing the vowel wear away.

This unlocks a whole family of sentences: I would have gone, I would have been able to, and so on.

Habría ido · Habríamos comido · Habríamos podido ir · Habrían podido comer · Habrían venido a comer

Note the a in the last one: venir is a verb of motion, so it keeps its connecting a.

2. Look for "the version after haber" Method

A framing worth adopting. Do not try to translate eaten, gone or been able, because those English forms are all wildly different. Just ask for the version of the verb that follows haber.

ir → ido · poder → podido · gustar → gustado

3. would have liked: the inverted structure again Grammar

Combine habría with gustar and you need the Spanglish step. I would have liked it is it would have pleased me.

That last one is they would have pleased us, so the verb goes plural while the nos stays put.

4. debería for "should" Rule

Should is simply would owe. Put deber into the -ía tense and you have it.

Deberías venir a mi casa · Deberías venir a mi casa a comer · Deberíamos hablar · Deberíamos hablarlo · Deberíamos hablarle · Deberíamos hablarles

5. Use con to escape the ambiguity of le Practical

Deberíamos hablarle could mean to him, to her, or to you formally. If you need to be clear, use the preposition instead.

Deberíamos hablar con ella

6. Block by block, and these get simple Method

Sentences like we would have been able to go look complicated, and they take the same structure in both languages, so tackling each part individually keeps you in control.

habríamos · podido · ir

Daría · Darían · Me darían · Me lo darían