Cantaría

Cantaría is a form of the Spanish verb cantar. It is the first-person singular and the third-person singular form of the conditional mood, meaning “I would sing” or “he/she would sing,” depending on the subject. Like other conditional forms, cantaría uses the infinitive cantar as the stem with the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. The accent on í marks the stressed syllable.

In usage, the conditional expresses actions that are hypothetical or contingent on another condition, and it is also used to make polite requests or offers. It commonly appears in si-clauses to describe what would happen under different circumstances, or in independent clauses to express willingness or intention.

Examples include: “Yo cantaría en la gala si me invitaran.” “Cantaría con gusto si me lo pidieran.” “¿Cantaría usted si le pagaran por ello?” The form can be ambiguous in isolation, since it corresponds to both yo cantaría and él/ella/Ud cantaría; context determines the subject.

Etymology and related forms: cantaría derives from cantar plus the conditional endings, evolving from Latin cantare. It is related to other Romance languages’ conditional forms and contrasts with the imperfect subjunctive cantara/cantase, which expresses a different type of hypothetical in the past.