The future tense is used to describe future actions or an intention to do something in the future.
Iré al cine esta noche.
I will go to the movies tonight.
The conditional is used to describe hypothetical or uncertain events that are contingent to another set of circumstances.
Iría al cine esta noche si tuviera dinero.
I would go to the movies tonight if I had money.
Both tenses express potential events. The difference comes in the certainty or uncertainty that the action may or may not happen.
Yo iré al cine esta noche.
I will go to the movies tonight. (The action is likely to happen.)
Yo iría al cine esta noche si tuviera dinero.
I would go to the movies tonight if I had money. (The action is unlikely/uncertain to happen.)
Juan dijo que Pedro vendrá a la fiesta.
Juan said that Pedro will come to the party. (Pedro will come to the party for sure.)
Juan dijo que Pedro vendría a la fiesta.
Juan said that Pedro would come to the party. (Pedro might or might not come.)
In last week's episode we saw that one of the uses of the conditional was to express wishes. It's important to see how to translate those kind of sentences into English.
Sería genial que pudiéramos viajar por todo el mundo.
It would be nice if we could travel around the world.
Estaría bien que la guerra no existiera.
It would be great if war does not exist.
English speaking students of Spanish habitually make the error of saying "estaría bien si..." or "sería genial si...". Always remember that in Spanish, "if" becomes "que".
In sentences introduced by under such, such view, in view of, or according to, both tenses behave like modal tenses and both mean the same thing.
De acuerdo con la nueva propuesta, el gobierno contribuirá/contribuiría dinero al sector de las telecomunicaciones.
According to the new proposal, the government will/would contribute money to the telecommunications sector.
Iré al cine esta noche.
I will go to the movies tonight.
The conditional is used to describe hypothetical or uncertain events that are contingent to another set of circumstances.
Iría al cine esta noche si tuviera dinero.
I would go to the movies tonight if I had money.
Both tenses express potential events. The difference comes in the certainty or uncertainty that the action may or may not happen.
Yo iré al cine esta noche.
I will go to the movies tonight. (The action is likely to happen.)
Yo iría al cine esta noche si tuviera dinero.
I would go to the movies tonight if I had money. (The action is unlikely/uncertain to happen.)
Juan dijo que Pedro vendrá a la fiesta.
Juan said that Pedro will come to the party. (Pedro will come to the party for sure.)
Juan dijo que Pedro vendría a la fiesta.
Juan said that Pedro would come to the party. (Pedro might or might not come.)
In last week's episode we saw that one of the uses of the conditional was to express wishes. It's important to see how to translate those kind of sentences into English.
Sería genial que pudiéramos viajar por todo el mundo.
It would be nice if we could travel around the world.
Estaría bien que la guerra no existiera.
It would be great if war does not exist.
English speaking students of Spanish habitually make the error of saying "estaría bien si..." or "sería genial si...". Always remember that in Spanish, "if" becomes "que".
In sentences introduced by under such, such view, in view of, or according to, both tenses behave like modal tenses and both mean the same thing.
De acuerdo con la nueva propuesta, el gobierno contribuirá/contribuiría dinero al sector de las telecomunicaciones.
According to the new proposal, the government will/would contribute money to the telecommunications sector.