We use the conditional tense to express:
- wishes and requests, for example: Jak dorosnę chciałbym być strażakiem. (When I grow up, I would like to be a fireman.)
- hypothetical conditions, for example: Zrobiłabym zakupy, gdybym miała pieniądze. (I would do shopping if I had some money.)
- polite commands, for example: Mógłbyś zrobić mi herbatę? (Could you make me a cup of tea?)
To create the conditional tense we use the third person singular and plural of the past tense. This table should help us understand the conditional tense formula:
| Conditional Tense = Past Tense + bym (m, -ś, -śmy, -ście) | |||
| chciałby (would) | mógłby (could) | ||
| I | ja (m) (f) | chciałbym chciałabym | mógłbym mogłabym |
| you | ty (m) (f) | chciałbyś chciałabyś | mógłbyś mogłabyś |
| he she it | on ona ono | chciałby chciałaby chciałoby | mógłby mogłaby mogłoby |
| we | my (m) (non-masculine ) | chcielibyśmy chciałybyśmy | moglibyśmy mogłybyśmy |
| you pl. | wy (m) (non-masculine ) | chcielibyście chciałybyście | moglibyście mogłybyśmy |
| they | oni (m) (non-masculine ) | chcieliby chciałyby | mogliby mogłyby |
💡Most of the verbs used in the conditional tense are used in their perfective form as the speaker imagines the action to be completed.
💡The ending bym is mobile and changes position as it can stand by itself in the sentence. It often joins with a particle czy or conjunction gdy. More often, however, bym joins with a verb which sounds more natural.