The conditional
1. Use
1.1. With polite questions, wishes, announcements and advices
| Example: |
| Saisinko kysyä jotakin? |
| = Could I ask something? |
| Example: |
| Sulkisitko oven? |
| = Would you close the door? |
| Example: |
| Joisitko jotakin, kahvia vai teetä? |
| = Would you drink something, coffee or tea? |
|
| Kiitos, ottaisin kupin kahvia. |
| = Thanks, I would take a cup of coffee. |
1.2. With hypothetical sentences
| Example: |
| Mitä tekisit, jos sinulla olisi paljon rahaa |
| = What would you do, if you had a lot of money? |
|
| Ehkä minä ostaisin uuden auton. |
| = Maybe I would buy a new car. |
2. Formation
Take the strong stem of the verb (by putting the verb in the 3rd person plural and removing the -vat) + isi + personal ending
| Verb |
3rd person plural |
Conditional |
| soittaa |
he soittavat |
minä soittaisin |
| tehdä |
he tekevät |
sinä tekisit |
| luulla |
he luulevat |
hän luulisi |
| avata |
he avaavat |
me avaisimme |
| häiritä |
he häiritsevät |
te häiritsisitte |
| rohjeta |
rohkenevat |
he rohkenisivat |
2.1. Vowel changes
If you look at the examples above this closely, you will notice that certain vowels get replaced when adding -isi. Check the vowel changes chapter on the page about the imperfect to see which ones disappear and which ones don't.
3. Negative conditional
Conjugate the negative verb, and take the positive conditional tense
without the personal ending.
| Positive |
Negative |
| minä ostaisin |
minä en ostaisi |
| sinä ostaisit |
sinä et ostaisi |
| hän ostaisi |
hän ei ostaisi |
| me ostaisimme |
me emme ostaisi |
| te ostaisitte |
te ette ostaisi |
| he ostaisivat |
he eivät ostaisi |
